The first taste of Unholy Swarm’s upcoming EP “Hymn Of The Low God” lands August 15, with “Enemy Within” streaming ahead of the full release on August 22 via Head2Wall Records. The single sets the tone for what’s coming — crossover and thrash at the core, but with the weight and grit of old hardcore players leaning into darker, horror-soaked metal. Members here have done time in Midnight, Triceratops, and other Midwest hardcore and metal outfits, and it shows in the way this material swings between jagged immediacy and heavier, doom-stained edges.
Vocalist Tucker Lappi keeps the song’s concept stripped to the bone: “Why do we feed the parts of ourselves that take away from our lives? Why do we change only when we hate ourselves enough to do so? And if we don’t change, what then?” It’s a blunt self-interrogation rather than allegory, riding alongside the record’s broader fixation on tension, decay, and internal corrosion.
Influences aren’t hard to spot — Lappi names Entombed, Strife, and the lineage of Ohio hardcore as key fuel. “Ohio has a sound, and we are proud to be a part of that,” he says.
The band tracked the EP at Mercinary Studios with Noah Buchanan for the third time, crediting him with sharpening their delivery. Buchanan also appears as a guest on one of the tracks.
The horror fixation is baked in as usual, bleeding into the artwork, song titles, and merch.
Lappi rattles off a personal “top 10” that drags from Carpenter’s “The Thing” to “Oni-Baba”, “Event Horizon”, “The Void” and “Phantasm” — a mix of cult classics, disturbing slow-burns, and unapologetic exploitation, all feeding into the band’s visual and thematic language.
The Thing
This is the best movie ever made, in my opinion. Best practical special effects ever put to film (Rob Botin was 21), perfect cast, and like every Carpenter movie, it’s a western at the end of the day.
Oni-Baba
This movie still creeps me out, wonderful cinematography, a story and conclusion that stay with you. I love a film about pain come to life.
Event Horizon
You go to space, you are super pumped, and then you find out that hell is just another dimension and you and your dumb ass friends just opened the gate. I saw this in theaters 3 times.
Brain Damage
This movie is pure and utter insanity, and has two wild ass sequels as well. Just go watch this and the rest of Frank Hennenlotters films.
The Void
A film that wears its influences on its sleeve, but doesn’t depend on them. Great storytelling, absolutely brilliant practicals, and really fun.
Maniac
This movie is an upsetting journey into the mind and actions of a perverse individual. Great exploitation film making. Elijah Wood starred in a remake some years back that is also very good.
The Howling
While i will admit that An American Werewolf In London has the best werewolf transformation scene, The Howling has the coolest suits. A Film about werewolves that are in a cult directed by the great Joe Dante. Very disturbing opening scene and just very fun overall.
Phantasm
I will never get over how much fun and how cool this film looks. Everything feels like a dream, and you never get an answer whether that’s true or not. Did Don Coscarelli rip off the Jawas from Star Wars? Sure! But George Lucas just ripped off the bible. So who is the bigger hack, George?
Re-Animator
Stuart Gordon is the man, Jeffery Combs delivers as the most curious man that has ever lived, and Barbara Crampton is always just perfect in any genre picture. Also, a severed head gives head.
John Carpenter’s Vampires
I truly adore this film, it has everything you could want from a Carpenter film. Great lead that is also a huge dick (not a stretch for James Woods, but he does kill it), a sidekick that is a lesser Baldwin, and a villian that is just as ridiculous as he is terrifying. It also includes the best vivisection a horror film has produced. If you disagree with me on that strongly, please let’s debate at a show, i always love arguing about horror with people.
