7 Questions with Admiral Nobeard of Swashbuckle

by Ryan Meehan

Following their previous two LPs released through international juggernaut Nuclear Blast, the brutal buccaneers in New Jersey’s Swashbuckle are loading their grapples to raid the deck of Get This Right Records, the label now preparing to unload the newest motherload of pillaging shanties from the trio. With the “We Hate the Sea” EP, we are offered a glimpse at where Swashbuckle’s rum-soaked minds have brought them over recent years and where their impending fourth studio full-length release will take them. Bearing four hornswagglling new rippers dispatched in less than seven minutes, We Hate the Sea will blast unsuspecting landlubbers broadside with the might of a typhoon, undoubtedly utilizing some of the crew’s most mutinous tactics to date, the jingles conceived in grog-soaked skirmishes and harnessed during sessions at The Sound of Revolution with Len Carmichael. On August 5^th the quartermaster at Get This Right Records will have stockpiles of “We Hate the Sea” in a a melee of colors/pressings, including 200 on blue/white swirl, 200 on black and a limited run of 100 on red/black smoke which will be limited to preorders with a numbered, special edition cover and a message from the band. In the mid 2000s, from the crumbling ports of Central New Jersey, sprang a band that has consistently held to one unifying principle: Thrash hard; Steal harder. With a career that began as a DIY tour de force of ramshackle maritime props seamlessly blended with blistering riffs, Swashbuckle has steeped their unique brand of high-seas hijinks and nautical nonsense to an internationally tasty piratical mosh sauce via self-released demo material, a debut full length unleashed by indie record label Bald Freak Music, and two subsequent full-length albums under the world’s foremost extreme metal label, Nuclear Blast Records. Swashbuckle’s discography swims parallel to an impressive campaign of touring cycles that range from their earliest self-booked trek, to countless professionally booked circuits of North America and Europe, and rounded out by appearances at numerous top music festivals including Summer Breeze, 70000 Tons of Metal, and Wacken Open Air. Swashbuckle’s core duo of bassist/vocalist Admiral Nobeard, and guitarist/backing vocalist Commodore RedRum have weathered the years with support, or lack thereof, from several retired band members including defunct keyboardist (Cabinboy Arsewhipe), a bellyaching guitarist (Rowin’ Joe Po), the much ballyhooed, shitkickin’ drummer (Captain Crashride), and finally a loquacious percussionist (Bootsmann Collins). The pirates currently sail into the fray led by Admiral Nobeard, who we are lucky enough to have as arrrrrrrrrr guest today in 7 questions.