Swine Overlord (Slam from West Winfield, NY/ Macclenny, FL)

Official Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/SwineOverlord

Biography :- Formed in December of 2011 under the name Malignant Abomination, the project was meant to be a novelty band between guitarist, Will and a close friend. It quickly became more serious changing the name to Hypoxic, and becoming Will's solo project. Two tracks were recorded before changing the name one last time to SWINE OVERLORD and recruiting Devin as vocalist and drummer. SO quickly began writing a unique and punishing blend of slamming brutal death metal, combining Devin's guttural vocals with skull-smashingly heavy instrumentation. In August of 2012 SO was played on heavy metal online radio station Brutal Existence Radio, giving them their first exposure and giving them the attention they needed to establish a fan base. SO's Demo 2012 was released in the early Fall, containing 3 tracks. On Halloween of 2012, they then released their first EP, Anthologies of Abomination, which contained the 3 demo tracks, as well as 2 new songs.

Since the release of their EP they have quickly been climbing the through the ranks of the underground brutal death metal scene, establishing a name for themselves. Working together with bands such as Gutfucked, Habitual Defilement, and Goemagot, the duo has become a strong force in the new brutal death metal scene.

As of December 2012, the band is working on a new EP that is to be released in 2013, and then plans to begin work on a full length, aiming for a late-2013 to early-2014 release date.
The band is looking for interested labels to handle the EP and full length. If interested, contact the band members.

Kshitiz - Tell the EUMSN blog followers about your band 'SWINE OVERLORD'. Where are u guys from ? When was this band formed ?
Will - Swine Overlord is a 2 man band, between the vocalist, Devin, and I. We're from the United States, but we live in different areas (I'm in New York and he's down in Florida) so everything is done over the internet. The project was originally started In December of 2011 as my solo project, and Devin joined in July of 2012, taking over drums and vocals.

Kshitiz - Who were the founding members ? Has the lineup ever been changed ?
Will - Devin and I were really both the founders; before he joined SO wasn't all that serious. Since Devin joined our line-up has remained the same. I don't foresee anyone else joining in the near future, unless the opportunity for touring arises.

Kshitiz - What are your lyrical themes ?
Will - We tend to lean away from the usual brutal death metal lyrics. There seems to be a constant stream of bands that just write hack and slash stories filled with gore and that kind of stuff. We try to make them a little bit more interesting. We consider most of lyrics to basically be horror stories, there's not really a common thread holding them together besides that, besides that there's often an anti-religious undertone. We try to make interesting lyrics that tell a fictional story, but still be able to put a little hint of our personal beliefs in.

Kshitiz - What are your influences as a band ?
Will - Overall our biggest influences are bands like Devourment, Suffocation, Abominable Putridity, and Pathology. Devin is also personally into a lot of Deathcore, while I'm into a lot of other Death Metal and some grind.

Kshitiz - Being in the underground metal scene, how does it feel like ? What made u be a part of the scene ?
Will - The band was initially just started for fun. We honestly never thought anything would ever come of it, or that people would actually want to listen to us, haha. But I honestly love the slam/brutal death scene. All the bands are always promoting eachother and helping get one another to get their name's out to more fans, it's really great. We never would've gotten the fanbase that we have if it weren't for other bands in the scene.

Kshitiz - What has been the greatest obstacle u have faced as a band ? Have u overcome it ?
Will - Our greatest obstacle for us, in my opinion, is that we live so far away from each other. We literally live 1,000 miles apart. This has really been a problem for us because it eliminates our ability to play shows and establish a local fanbase. I feel like physically performing together as band is a vital part of a band experience, as you get to know each others' styles in more detail. I feel like it would be easier to write in person too, but hey, the internet is a great tool and has served us well. In a sense I guess you could say we have overcome it, because we haven't let that stop us from writing music and starting to make a name for ourselves in the scene. We hope to someday move close to each other and actually fix the problem.

Kshitiz - What do u think is the most important thing for a band to stay united with the members ? What makes a band united and strong ?
Will - I feel like there are two important things when it comes to keeping a band strong. Firstly, you need to actually have chemistry. If outside of making music, you and your band members hate each other, it will never work. Devin and I are very close friends, we talk all the time, and that helps us keep Swine Overlord up and running smoothly. Secondly, all the members need to want the same thing. The need to all have the drive to reach whatever it is the band wants to accomplish. If one member wants to make it big while the others just want a group to jam with on weekends, they'll fall apart. Devin and I have always had a similar idea of what we want to do and where we want the band to go.

Kshitiz - Brutal Death metal is among the genres, our society feels difficult to digest. What do u say on this ?
Will - I completely understand why people may not like metal. There was a time when I didn't enjoy many of the more extreme variants, simply because I had never been exposed to them. Once I gave them a chance, I grew to love them. Metal is different from other music. Instead of love and happiness, metal speaks about death, hatred, violence, ant-religious ideals, usually anything that society deems unacceptable. In addition to that, instead of soft and pleasantly pretty music, it utilizes abrasive and extremely aggressive instrumentation that most people just aren't accustomed to, so they don't give it a chance. Metal as a whole is a completely different side of music than what the majority of society is used to, simply because they're not exposed to it through the mainstream. By no means do I believe that there will be a day where metal records will be going platinum, but I do think that more people would listen to this type of music if they just gave it an honest chance.

Kshitiz - What makes 'SWINE OVERLORD' a good DEATH METAL ?
Will - I feel like our music is good because we're always trying to find a good balance for each apsect of our music. We try to play what we think sounds good. We don't focus on making songs that are nothing but slams and breakdowns, but we don't try to make our songs overly technical and complex. We try to have a little bit of both. We don't try to sound exactly like our influences, but we don't get so wrapped up in doing something crazy that's never been heard before that we lose sight of what's important, making music that we enjoy making and listening to. Our goal has always been to make music that we would listen to, and hope that other people like it to. I think that's the best thing a band can do. 

Kshitiz - Any shows coming up this this early 2013 ?
Will - As of right now nothing, just because of the distance, as I mentioned before. We have talked about the possibility of meeting up over the summer and doing some shows, but we'll see how that goes.

Kshitiz - For those who dont know your band, how can they know your music ?
Will - Anybody who wants to check our music out can listen to us on our facebook page, or you can find our entire first EP, Anthologies of Abomination, on youtube. 

Kshitiz - Anything for your fans and supporters ?
Will - Just a big thank you to everyone that has shown us support since we started. Anyone that has liked or shared or facebook page or one of our videos, anyone that has told a friend about us, anyone that has bought the EP, thank you! 2013 is looking to be a big year for us, so stay tuned!

Kshitiz - Anything u would like to say, apart from what i have asked u during this interview ?
Will - I'd just like to thank you for the opportunity man. It's good to see people like you trying to help out the scene, and I appreciate it! Keep it brutal \m/.