late April 2011, Thorpe Park began an advertising campaign for LC12 consisting of "The end is coming" posters in the park and a teaser website, LC12.net. The LC12.net website featured a brief description hinting at the possible theme of the ride alongside a countdown until 1 August 2011. As the date of the ride's announcement approached, Thorpe Park released a video via Facebook stating that "WAR is coming". On 25 January 2012, it was reported that an incident occurred when testing The Swarm. Limbs of test dummies were broken off when the ride passed an object that was located too close to the track. In March 2012, Thorpe Park announced it had contracted the band You Me at Six to create the world's first roller coaster single for the launch of The Swarm. The song, "The Swarm", was released on iTunes on 18 March 2012, a few days after the opening of the roller coaster. The song entered the UK Singles Charts at number 23. Reception The Swarm received mixed responses in its opening season. The park declared the attraction a commercial disappointment in its following years, after disappointing guest attendance to the park; this partially led to the brief "Brave it backwards" feature in 2013. Blogger Nick Sim of "Theme Park Tourist" praised the attraction, saying that it packs "a number of incredible elements into its compact circuit". Sim stated the ride had "fallen just short of our sky-high expectations" mainly because of "its short ride time". He rated the ride 4 out of 5. Joanna Churchill of the Daily Mirror gave a review of the backwards ride, stating that it is "a whole new adrenaline-pumped experience that is simply not for the faint-hearted". Churchill stated that her "blood pressure and heart rate went through the roof", but "there was barely time to process what was happening before we were back on terra firma". In Mitch Hawker's worldwide Best Roller Coaster Poll, The Swarm debuted at position 68 out of the 365 roller coasters in the poll. When compared with other Wing Coasters debuting in the 2012 poll, The Swarm performed fairly well; X-Flight at Six Flags Great America ranked 58, Wild Eagle at Dollywood ranked 87, and Raptor at Gardaland ranked 113. It did not place in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards in 2012, 2013 and 2014, but made its first appearance in 2015 ranked at 30. Despite