Swaylex
- Raging Rapids
Swaylex’s
“Raging Rapids” is probably the hardest and heaviest of his recent YouTube
uploads. Swaylex’s warm, yet crunchy,
Ibanez guitar sound is the primary mover for this tune, but he also shows the
same tendency for interesting drummer complementing this track that listeners
can hear on his other upload “Scrale”. To Swaylex’s credit, he avoids the same
over-indulgence plaguing many of his contemporaries – everything here is
focused and streamlined to the best possible effect. The composition and
performance, likewise, exude a confidence you can detect in both the music and video
presentation – there’s a swagger here that never stretches the boundaries of
taste and, instead, draws you deeper into his musical world despite the song’s
brief duration. Swaylex, even at his crunchiest, gives listeners numerous
melodic hooks to hang onto. “Raging Rapids” is a powerful performance and
composition from the first.
There’s
a lot of power in this song. Swaylex structures it just right – from the
opening wash of wailing guitar notes, the seamless segue into the song’s
primary riff, and the perfect accompaniment from rhythm guitar, bass, and
drums, “Raging Rapids” has an impressively full sound that never dips in
quality or intensity. His home recordings might strike some, without taking a
listen, as doomed to amateurish. That isn’t the case. He has full command over
each instrument and weaves the different parts together with the sort of
clarity we expect from longtime musical veterans, not relatively newcomers to
the scene. It is obviously that this is a young performer who has worked
mightily to polish his skills and presentation alike in such a way to make the
best possible impression on his listeners.
It has a surprising horror or thriller movie character with its
sustained, sharp guitar notes and the menacing riffing accompanying those
touches underscores this effect in a memorable way.
It
never reaches too far either. He knows what he wants the song to accomplish,
seemingly from the first, and it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the
song has been well rehearsed before he ever dared commit the performance to
recording or film. Fortunately for us, however, it has a live and off the cuff
quality that sounds like he hasn’t lived with the song too much or too long
and, instead, is striking while the iron of inspiration is hot. This is the
central factor that sets his work apart from similar musicians promoting
themselves in such a way. Swaylex’s music is alive with a passion that is quite
impossible to fake and it comes across with a very first take feel. There’s no
sloppiness here however. Instead, it’s a direct and powerful track that grabs
listeners’ by the ear and forces them to listen. Never under duress – instead,
you will be grateful to hear every note and it never threatens to overwhelm
you.
William
Elgin
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