Category: Album Reviews
Tags: the sword

Austin hard rockers The Sword have been making waves for a few years now with their first two albums. They play that sort of stoner rock / proto- metal 70s bell- bottomed sound that is getting more and more popular these days. With their third album, they have abandoned their lyrical obsessions with George R. R. Martin fantasy and branched out into a space rock concept (check out that cool pulp artwork). I have no idea what the whole thematic sci- fi bit is about- some kind of epic battle between good and evil, I would expect. The main thing is that their music hasn’t changed much (i.e., they didn’t go psych). It’s still basic Dazed and Confused hard rock.

Now, that approach has gained them plenty of friends (including Bruce Dickinson) but also a lot of scorn from the “True Metal” camp, due to their perceived lack of authenticity. And it’s true that they haven’t transcended their vintage sound to become truly classic yet (such as, say, Monster Magnet, Cathedral, the Hellacopters and other bands who have been born too late). But it’s still early days and I think the haters should chill out. Warp Riders is packed with energy, volume and face- melting solos. I can’t complain.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

About the Author: CnB