Revitalized and ready to promote their latest album Dagger Mouth, Swollen Members will be in concert at the OV Pub next Friday night, May 20. After going through one of the darkest periods of their musical careers, Swollen Members are back and sounding more revitalized than ever, reports their publicist James Wright of Kerosene Media. The Vancouver-based hip-hop trio has somehow managed to persevere through drug addiction, label collapses, and legal troubles to create their 2009 release Armed To The Teeth.
While writing the album was necessary to empty the skeletons that have been piling up in the group’s closet, the album was a departure from Swollen Members’ trademark sound. “Armed to the Teeth is a dope record, but looking back now some of the lyrical content glorifies negativity a little too much for my liking,” commented Mad Child.
“Along with Dilated Peoples and Hieroglyphics, we come from an era of hip-hop that was a raw and pure art form and just a lot more fun! So when we started the creative process for this record our goal was to record something that feels right and that’s exactly what happened.”
With Mad Child now free from his addiction to pain killers and having exorcised all his demons, he has returned to Swollen Members with a vengeance to record their seventh studio album Dagger Mouth. From the powerful production of Rob The Viking to the dark poetic abstract expressionism of Mad Child and Prevail, Dagger Mouth is a return to the classic Swollen Members sound by harnessing the group’s savage and chaotic energy into one focused and commanding effort.
“We really learned a lot from Mad Child’s journey through addiction, and Swollen managed to keep it together during a tumultuous time that would have broken most groups up,” added Prevail. “With this record we banded together for the strength of our brotherhood and re-discovered the core elements of what the Swollen Members sound is.”
Over the course of their decade-long career, Swollen Members has managed to develop some of the most electrifying hip-hop chemistry. From the release of their debut album Balance in 1999, Swollen captivated the underground hip-hop world with live shows that took the raw explosive energy of rock music and powered it with the group’s jaw dropping lyrical abilities.
Their universal appeal caught the attention of both underground and mainstream audiences and while earning accolades, as well as Juno Awards (the Canadian version of a Grammy), and video awards. Swollen Members had developed such a powerful fan base they were touring the world opening for everyone from Black Eyed Peas to Tech N9ne and collaborating with the likes of Nelly Furtado, Everlast, and Chali 2na (Jurassic 5).
“The past few years have taught me a lot about myself and my music,” closes Mad Child. “Swollen Members’ success has taken us around the world and while I’m thankful for all we’ve accomplished, but I’ve learned that everything is secondary to making good music.”
Tickets are available at the Overlander.