Swarm of Eyes to Release Dark Holiday Dirge, 'Santa Claus is Coming', on Black Friday

BOSTON - Nov. 22, 2016 - PRLog -- Swarm of Eyes is ushering in the holidays and making Black Friday a little blacker.  In what's become a Yuletide tradition, the New England-based metal band will release a dark version of the classic Christmas carol, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on Friday November 25^th, 2016. It will be available on Bandcamp and a video for the song  will appear on YouTube that same day, featuring artwork from 18 talented artists, offering a cavalcade of creepy Kris Kringles.

Last year, Swarm of Eyes released a punk-metal cover of the quirky holiday classic, "Nuttin' For Christmas." This year, the tradition continues, albeit with a murkier, more foreboding take on a beloved holiday song. The track is a harbinger of things to come with the impending release of Swarm of Eyes' new EP, We Go to War with the Weapons We Have, in early 2017.

"A massive amount of credit goes to Derrik [Albertelli] for making a one-off comment I said into a reality," said George O'Connor of his fellow Swarm of Eyes guitarist. "I floated the idea of doing a dark, minor-key version of 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' to him. He took the ideaand came back with the chord structures and progressions. We got together and started messing around with the parts and arranging them together."

By the end of the session, the two guitarists had a rough demo, recording the final music mix just one week later. Vocals came together pretty quickly and the completed version of the song came together in just a few hours.

"What's really nice is, after seven years of working together, Randy [Carter, the band's vocalist] and I have created a pretty good shorthand language that allows us to work quickly while still having plenty of time to explore and try out different things," explained O'Connor.  "I think Randy's vocal attack, along with Derrik's arrangement, highlight the darker aspects of the song. It's actually pretty foreboding when you slow it down and really listen to the lyrics."

The concept for the video matches the ominous tone of Swarm of Eyes' rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Strapped for time and rather than throwing together a humdrum "video" with just the band's logo and lyrics, the band enlisted the aid of 18 talented artists to offer their own renderings of sinister Santas. A mix of working professional comic and industrial artists alongside talented up-and-comers, the diverse range of contributors complement Swarm of Eyes' creepy Christmas card to the metal world.

"After years of creating comics and going to conventions, I now know several talented artists. So, I threw it out to them and my other friends to draw their version of what a creepy Santa would look like," said O'Connor, the author of several indie comic titles himself. "There were no rules, so they were all free to put their spin on the idea. What we got back was incredible. When someone watches the video, they'll be able to see some fantastic art that fits the vibe of the song. And I'm thrilled to introduce these artists to everyone."

Check out the song and video on Bandcamp and YouTube on Black Friday, November 25, 2016. Stay tuned for more info on Swarm of Eyes' upcoming EP, due for an early 2017 release.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/idLhTj1yMBY


Bandcamp: https://swarmofeyes.bandcamp.com/track/santa-claus-is-coming
Website: http://swarmofeyes.com/