Digital Escort – “Swimming With The Fish”

Digital Escort – “Swimming With The Fish” – Single Review

If you wanna get your ears around what MEAN sounds like – put your headphones on and strap yourself into “Swimming With The Fish” by Digital Escort.  A song that truly goes for the throat – this new single became my battle-anthem over the past twenty-four hours or so…I swear I must have listened to this song at least 100 times by now – a number I have no shame in or problem admitting to.  Seriously – this is a fucking gnarly, big & burly piece of monstrously-sized music that grips you quickly…and if you find yourself digging on the hard-stuff…you should love this.

It’s kinda somewhere in the middle of KMFDM-meets-RATM with a little bit of Skinny Puppy thrown in there as well…maybe some Fishbone.  If you’re familiar with the catalogue of music those bands have put out over the years, then you already know there’s not a name on that list of comparisons that fuck around even remotely when it comes to their music – and clearly neither does Digital Escort.  The drums pound and thrash with precision and solid hits…the guitars grind hard and nearly sound like they’re synth-created, fitting perfectly with the tone & atmosphere of danger in the air.  Their instrumental breaks outside of the verse are fucking sick rips of thrash-rock mayhem – the vocals are larger than life when they come storming and screaming back in.

I think this kind of industrial-induced rock mayhem, when done powerfully like this really has a place on my playlist…though I’ll admit sometimes I forget just how I enjoy creative and confident thrash like this.  Kind of reminds me a little of Apartment 26 from back in the day…I wonder where those guys ended up?

Anyhow…I’m not here to review Apartment 26…I’m here for Digital Escort with my full listening support.  Seriously killer guitar solos stoke the fire of the middle of “Swimming With The Fish” – and again…those vocals…man…they are completely out to sonically tear you a whole new-one if you know what I mean.  Watch yourself if you turn this one up, or at least be ready to wear your brown-pants with pride.

I can hear a slight argument that MAYBE the mix overall has a little mud in it…but I’d argue right back that this furious blaze of twisting-metal sounds and super-crunchy guitars…that looseness to the attack in the drums and letting the cymbal hits carry-out their full-form…it all adds up to the impression that this band would potentially throw down one of the most killer live-sets of music that you ever might see and really puts a live-sound into this song.  With well-over a half-million hits and listens on this new single from Digital Escort, you’ve gotta assume there are scores and scores of people out there that feel as strongly about this jagged-cut as I do.  Everything about “Swimming With The Fish” thunders with the authority of determined sounds that I would be willing to be completely echo the hard-work ethic behind the music here.

Fully recommend you get your ears around this one…but be ready for it…nothing about “Swimming With The Fish” or the music of Digital Escort are about to take it easy on you.  Those that survive their brutalizing style will indeed live to tell the tales of what they’ve heard…and believe me – they’ll be sincerely enthusiastic about the entire experience.  Digital Escort is a trip and a half…and as punishing as music can get without being BAD for a single moment; definitely a band I want to hear more from.

Join the thousands of bands & artists reviewed at sleepingbagstudios by clicking here!