Murky industrial percussion-based noise from Daniel Szwed on his Splinter (ROPE WORM RW9) CD. Six tracks, of which five are collaborations with other players – Natalia Górecka, Mala Herba, Liam Andrews, and Jessica. Szwed tends to filter his drums through electronic pedals, and plays some home-made instruments too, aiming at all times for some sort of “ritualistic” vibe. The other musicians are mostly bringing lyrics and vocals to the party, though some play instruments too; even their voiced contributions remain obscure and dark, in line with the general “dank dungeon” mood of this downer. Szwed has been active since 2008 as co-founder of the BNNT collective in Warsaw with Konrad Smolenski. Szwed also guested on Dirt Collector by Mazut, from this same label.
The gloomy atmosphere is fine, but Daniel Szwed isn’t adventurous enough for me; his drumming skills are rudimentary, often settling for simple 4-4 exercises that aren’t especially challenging, either for him as a player or us as listeners. He seems disdainful of dynamics, and refuses to leave any spaces in his plodding one-dimensional stick work. This leaves us with the “new textures and sound colours” he is seeking, which he does through layering, droning, adding bits of metal, and flirting with noise and industrial genres, all of which he does in a very derivative and unimaginative manner. (03/10/2025)