The Sword

One of the greats of stoner/doom is The Sword, from Austin Texas.......great stuff here, I've never featured
them that I recall and it is truly about time......They formed in 2003 and currently consist of singer/vocalist John Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie, and drummer Santiago Vela III....REALLY cool stuff here, slow/sludgy Black Sabbath meets Sleep sort of thing......my personal fave, and I don't think all that many would agree with me, would be the 2006 debut "Age of Winters", it's to me a stunning album, as I said before a near perfect blending of Black Sabbath and Sleep, and one of the all-time great sludgy stoner rockers appears here, the eight minute "Lament For the Aurochs", a fave of mine if not of anyone else's......

Next up they released a similar (still fab sounding) album, 2007's "Gods of the Earth"......another solid effort, metal and stoner fans should love this one if unfamiliar.....the songs are a little harder, a little shorter, and, while still quite good, imo not the equal of "Age".....although given the choice I think most would opt for "Gods".....both are worth a listen, no question.

"Warp Riders" (2010) is yet another step "forward" in their development, a "serious" conceptual affair based on some science fiction concept that I don't really recall.....the music is once again, harder edged (ie faster, more "rocking" if you will), and this is quite a good one as well. Maybe I was/am a "fan", but I enjoyed this one a hell of a lot upon it's release as well. And, jump for joy, mine is a Japanese edition that contains a bonus track or two.

"Apocryphon" (2012, also a Japanese release with a couple of bonus tracks, check "Hammer Of Heaven", a good one for my money, as if I know anything)......this is an album that you metal/stoner fans will want/need to own, I'm not joking, this is/was a fucking great band (if you like this kind of thing...obviously I do!).

The latest release is from 2015 "High Country".....to be honest, I likely haven't heard it more than once or twice, but I'm sure it is acceptable, I love me some SWORD, they are/were exactly what they set out to be, a grungy, grimy stoner-metal band, and they did it FUCKING well.

Mark Eveleigh? Where you at Dog, I ain't heard from your stoner-rock loving self in a long time.....chances
are good an expert like yourself knows all about these, but if not, this is you brother!

Also included here is a 2007 split with the band Witchcraft......more interesting than listenable, it does include Sword's boneheaded cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"....why do bands do shit like this? Like the Tootsie Roll Pop conundrum, the world may never know.

Sword is a kick-ass legend of stoner/doom rock......this whole collection IS worth your time, if you love great hard rock.....and if you DON'T......well, why are you here?

AGE OF WINTERS-01 Celestial Crown/02 Barael's Bride/03 Freya/04 Winter's Wolves/05 The Horned Goddess/06 Iron Swan/07 Lament For the Aurochs/08 March of the Lor/09 Ebethron

GODS OF THE EARTH-01 The Sundering/02 The Frost-Giant's Daughter/03 How Heavy This Axe/04 Lords/05 Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephrians/06 To Take the Black/07 Maiden, Mother, and Crone/08 Under the Boughs/09 The Black River/10 The White Sea/11 Untitled

WARP RIDERS-01 Acheron-Unearthing the Orb/02 Tres Brujas/03 Arrows in the Dark/04 The Chronomancer I, Hubris/05 Lawless Lands/06 Astraea's Dream/07 The Warp Riders/08 Night City/09 The Chronomancer II, Nemesis/10 (The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fear/11 Daughter of the Dawn

APOCRYPHON-01 The Veil of Isis/02 Cloak of Feathers/03 Arcane Montane/04 The Hidden Masters/05
Dying Earth/06 Execarator/07 Seven Sisters/08 Hawks and Serpents/09 Eyes of the Stormwitch/10 Apocryphon/11 Arrows In the Dark/12 Barael's Bride/13 The Chronomancer II, Nemesis/14 Ebethron/15 Cheap Sunglasses/16 Hammer of Heaven

HIGH COUNTRY-01 Unicorn Farm/02 Empty Temples/03 High Country/04 Tears Like Diamonds/05 Mist & Shadow/06 Agartha/07 Seriously Mysterious/08 Suffer No Fools/09 Early Snow/10 The Dreamthieves/11 Buzzards/12 Silver Petals/13 Ghost Eye/14 Turned to Dust/15 The Bees of Spring

SWORD/WITCHCRAFT SPLIT-01 SWORD-Sea of Spears/02 SWORD-Immigrant Song/03 WITCHCRAFT-You Bury Your Head/04 WITCHCRAFT-Queen of Bees/05 WITCHCRAFT-Sorrow Evoker

The Sword is one band I have always really liked......it's ultra "serious" stuff, but rocks like a motherfucker and if you like sludgy stoner rock, every album here, yes, ALL of them, are stuff you would like to hear. Trust Scott.