Saturday, April 5, 2008

The Sword - Gods Of The Earth


So I've been in a pretty big metal phase lately, specifically black metal. For a little longer, though, I've been a fan of other metal (I'm still kinda new to it so forgive my ignorance of the different subgenres of metal). When The Sword's Age Of Winters came out in 2006, I was enthralled with it's awesomeness. I missed a few opportunities to see them live (once with Tarantula A.D. (now Priestbird) which I'm pretty pissed about) but Age Of Winters has grown on me through time, and it is now very close to my heart. My only regret about not having a Playstation or an XBox was when Freya appeared on Guitar Hero II.

2006 may not seem like a long time ago but when you listen to an album on repeat for 2 years, you start to crave something new. I unfortunately missed their split 12" with Witchcraft, so Gods Of The Earth is the first new material I've since since February '06. So let me say it outright, I am extremely pleased with The Sword's new full length. It doesn't have the immediate catchy riffs that Winters does, but it has plenty of rock in it. Gods doesn't need that catchiness, though. The Sword have made a name for themselves and people just want to hear more of their brilliance, which is delivered by the bucketful on Gods. With names like How Heavy This Axe and Fire Lances The Ancient Hyperzephyrians, how can they do anything but rock? Not a lot of progress was made from one album to the next, but who cares? I'll allow it for at least the next album they put out, if not even longer. This stuff is so awesome. On Gods Of The Earth, it's the same old Sword with low moaning vocals and synchronized guitars. The only thing missing? Those howling wolves.

No comments: