Church of Industrial Music: Swamp Terrorists - Combat Shock

Swamp Terrorists weren't the first band to introduce me to breakbeats, but they were the one that made me fall in love with them. I mentioned my love for sample-based industrial previously in the Templebeat article, but I think Swamp Terrorists was my first love there, too. While it may not have been as eye-opening in an almost psychedelic experience sort of way as, say, hearing Skinny Puppy for the first time, Combat Shock is one of the albums that showed me yet another niche of what music could be. Of course I'd heard samples in other music (particularly industrial), and even probably music made mostly or entirely with samples, but this was different.

Though the basic style of tracks based around danceable breakbeat-based rhythms and samples remained the same throughout their career, this is another band that benefitted from improvements in technology during the 90's. Though I love all of their stuff, earlier Swamp Terrorists material (including this album, to a degree) does sound a bit dated. However, they were always unique, and I really love their sort of techno-metal sound. This album was originally released in 1993, and sits somewhere in the middle.

Unfortuneately, not a lot of Swamp Terrorists' music has made it into the digital realm in a truly legit fashion, however there is some to be found on a certain video site easily enough.

The album opens with "Pale Torment", which is one of my favorites on this album. This is an excellent example of the early/mid-era Swamp Terrorists sound: solid, danceable beats, excellent use of guitar samples, and Ane H's signature growls. Jumping forward a bit, "Spawn" is a little slower, and relies more on synthetic sounds than a lot of the tracks here. The breakbeats here have more of a hip-hop flavor, and the overall feel is more ominous. Skipping a few more, we come to another dancefloor stomper, "Pant to Injure", which has some pretty cool synth sequences, and of course great use of guitar samples. "Revelation" is a sort of atmospheric instrumental (except for samples) piece, followed by "Jerks Ever Win", which takes things up a notch again. The album proper finishes off with the 14-and-a-half minute breakbeat and guitar-driven epic, "Right Now", which is pretty cool, if you have the time. Two remixes of "Comeback" and a remix of "P.T.S.D." follow that, and are also very cool, though the first "Comeback" remix also achieves epic status, clocking in over eleven minutes.

This is one that you may have to go to the used market for, but I think it's worth it if you're inclined towards this kind of thing. I like all of their releases, but partly due to the production, and probably also just due to the band maturing as artists, I like this one and later ones a bit more. I also recommend the offshoot project Hellsau, which may end up with an article of their own.