As they say “all must good things come to an end”. And as they also say “best to go out with a bang”. And so it was for SWARM’s final fling with the Sydney club scene. Responsible for some of the most memorable parties of the early 2000s, SWARM has been an institution for fans of the harder end of techno (not that pussy handbag shit…yeah, I said it) for a decade, serving up slamming beats on a nearly monthly basis. They’ve toured countless internationals, broken the careers of some of Sydney’s most well-respected techno artists, and never strayed from their vision. So it was with great respect (but also great sadness) that nigh-on 150 people packed in to The Bunker to send off SWARM.

Birthday girl Mookie opened up the night in with her usual flair, rolling out funky, glitchy jams that slowly coaxed punters on the floor and warmed up the soundsystem nicely. HPS?, one of the aforementioned careers that were broken by SWARM was up next, playing a devastating live set using a combination of hardware and Ableton live. Having explored the deeper, more cerebral textures of minimal techno and tech house for a couple of years, HPS? has more recently returned to his signature “freight train loopism” sound, and boy was it nice to hear him back in his element. Grinding, aggressive rhythms, punchy kick drums, deep, analogue basslines, twisted effects and even the odd 303 line were the order of the day, with HPS? craftily tweaking sounds and bringing layers in and out of the mix seamlessly to create a hypnotic but stomping groove throughout.

Vic Zee took over to warm up the room for the night’s guest Chris Liberator (if it even needed warming up by now…I’m sure if there were rafters in The Bunker people would have been hanging from them), and in true Vic style it was just straight up, no bullshit techno. Funky, percussive tracks from the likes of Wehbba characterised the earlier portion of his set, before he took it up a notch in to some big room clubby techno jams (complete with bad ass synths) and finally some absolute ball-tearers that were reminiscent of DJ Rush’s style of hard, distorted techno.

What happened next was like a spiritual experience…if Jesus had a 303 and a 909. Chris Liberator, one of the pioneers of the acid techno sound (and, coincidentally, the first ever international SWARM toured) played for well over his advertised 2 hours, slamming out absolutely relentless music until nearly 5 AM. There were chunky, percussive cuts, there were distorted, aggressive bangers, and there was so much fucking acid that my brain nearly melted. Plus it was all on vinyl…bonus! Amongst plenty of classics such as One Night In Hackney, there were also lots of new, unreleased cuts, including a new collaboration between Liberator and Sterling Moss, and a few cheeky bootlegs of some well-known tracks including Smack My Bitch Up and even Funky Town! Proper. Fucking. Techno. Pretty much sums it up, really.

Much respect must be paid to SWARM for their service to the Sydney scene and their unending dedication to their sound over the last decade. Sydney techno fans of today have a lot of thanks to give pioneers like SWARM for their hard work.