The Sword have a knack for combining doom, drone and even aspects of psychedelia with crushing, epic, metal. All of these factors are all brought to the boil in one huge, mythological melting pot and encapsulated in the two album, limited edition, box set.
The Sword take a vintage approach as both these albums feel as if they were pioneering this genre 30 years ago. ‘The Frost Giant’s Daughter’ has all the makings of a classic doom track with a chugging pace peppered with blistering solo’s courtesy of Kyle Shutt and shrouded in down tuned, bass fuzz from finger-picking Bryan Richie.
Vocally, JD Cronise conveys a certain sense of mystical misery with ever line sung or wailed and this provides the perfect back drop for the band to really drone through the hypnotic ‘The Horned Goddess’ . Both of these albums are hammered home by Thor himself.....well Trivett Wingo whose drumming comes pretty close in ‘The Black River’.
Nothing shows off The Sword’s collective talents more so than ‘Freya’. An instant classic that showcases all of their musical talents and takes pride of place in their live set where as ‘Iron Swan’ has a beautifully deceptive intro before dropping in full speed into some serious shredding.
The Sword’s sound is far bigger than what any human can put down on a record. ‘How Heavy This Axe’ shakes the very foundations of the Viking long boat it rode in on where as the relentless chugging of ‘Winters Wolves’ is skull splittingly heavy. This band has a sound that is played way past eleven. Blow your speakers while you let the Sword’s awesome riffs blow your mind.
‘Gods Of The Earth’ & ‘Age Of Winters’ are essential listening for any, stoner, metal head or acid casualty looking ride, head strong, into Valhalla. The Sword brings the thunder!!
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