Customer Reviews
More from the great riff forgers! 
2008-05-07
The Swords last album, "Age Of Winters" was great! It was a nice unpretentious album that brought metal back down to earth with its Sabbath inspired, retro doom sound. It was also super heavy and filled to the brim with awesome riffs!
"Gods Of The Earth" hits much the same way, only with a few key differences. The boys from Sword have gotten a little more skilled since "Age Of Winters" and it shows in the newfound complexity, leadwork, and speed of the songs. Thats both good and just a little bad.
On the good side, the riffs continue to be phenominal, and make for awesome slabs of heaviness. Even better, the new found technical skill never outshines the music itself, they're not showing off, just applying their newfound speed and tightness to the music, making the songs more complicated and little closer to thrash-metal.
On the bad side, the new, thrashier direction just emphasizes just how weak the singer is. The vocals were never great on "Age Of Winters," but the thin zombie-like vocals worked well enough on AoW because the music was a little more Sabbath than Metallica, and lord knows Ozzy never had that great of a voice.
With the new, tighter, more agressive sound, however, a tighter more agressive singer would really bring those songs to the hieghts they deserve.
But thats a minor complaint. The bottom line is this:
You probably liked the Swords debut because it brought the HEAVY and it brought the RIFFS!!!
"Gods of the Earth" does the same. So enjoy! I know I am.
best young american metal band 
2008-04-29
The heavy metal hardcore hates it when a band comes from outside the scene to do metal.
They hate it double when that band gets a deal with a large label.
They hate it triple when the band does metal better than the bands that grew from inside the scene.
The heavy metal hardcore hates The Sword.
They listen with their prejudices, not their ears. This band has grown a pair since their last album. They now have their own very distinctive sound, heavier, rawer and faster than the Sabbathian debut. Indeed, there is improvement on every level. Every instrument sounds better; and while the singer will never be great, he has found himself now and fronts the band with aplomb. When you have riffs like this, the singer doesn't need to carry the band. He just needs to carry his own weight. He does it just fine.
It sometime happens that "borderline" metal bands, bands from outside the scene, make the best metal, because they bring a new perspective. The Sword is the best American doom metal band since Danzig, and that's saying something.
If you don't like them for some kind of philosophical reason or because they're too popular, that's your loss. This sounds like true metal to me.
I guess I expected something more innovative. 
2008-04-18
I bought this record becasue a friend recommended it knowing that I like Black Sabbath (stoner metal) grooves but this record simply did not work for me. The drums had the cymbals dominating and the vox just sounded weak. There was no innovation. I felt like I was listening to something from 1975.
Long Live The Sword 2008-04-16
Great second release, a bit different from the first album but i like it nonetheless. My favorite song is "To Take The Black." You will especially like this album if you are a fan of George RR Martins books. I just cant get enough of this great bone crunching sound.
Far from the sheltering glens 2008-04-12
As if their name and albums weren't enough to tip you off, the Sword like to do two things: make references to myths and fantasy, and blast your ears off with eruptions of fiery metal.
And in their second album "Gods of the Earth," this Austin band proceeds to do both -- but with greater intensity than in their debut. Not only do they have Black-Sabbath-style muscle and power that sweeps you off like a tidal wave, but also a wild flexibility that only promises to become more hypnotic in the future.
The first song eases you into the music with a nimble, quiet guitar melody... right before that swell of thunderous bass explodes onto the scene, and it turns into a full-fledged metal anthem. But from the way they play it, you can tell that this is just the buildup.
It's followed by the epic buildup and rapid ascent of "How Heavy This Axe," a blazing war anthem ("So many men have fallen/So many more must die/Cut down like wheat beneath the scythe!"), and "Lords'" tight knifelike riffs twined with heavy grimy clouds of bass. And, of course, lyrics that sound like they were written for some enormous high-fantasy novel ("The dukes of the marches have ordered their archers/To shoot all outlanders on sight").
So you have a pretty good idea of what the remaining songs are going to be, and the Sword rushes on through them like a brush fire. A rollicking hard-rocker that simultaneously sounds like a stampede and a car revving, a meditative folk-metal anthem, blazing yowlfests, tribal metal, eruptions of accelerating bass and wild upward-spiraling riffs.
By the time you get to "The White Sea," you'll probably feel kind of dizzy. Fortunately the album finally slows to a stately dark cloud of grimy bass, with one outburst of wailing riffs near the end.
When you get down to it, all the songs on here sound like the soundtrack to some heavy-metal fantasy movie, with a heavy dose of Norse mythology -- lots of bloody battles, mythical goddesses, destroyed ruins, wizards, damsels, legends, creepy forests, and fantastical/mythic stuff like that. And they'll happily blow your ears off too.
"Gods of the Earth" is just as wild, heavy and rock-hard as the Sword's debut album, but they rev up the tempo with this one -- just listen to the speed of "Under the Boughs." We get raw, rough, intertwined basslines race along at sixty MPH, pausing occasionally for the sharp-edged electric riffs, elaborate acoustic bits, and some solid drumming. But the powerful bass playing is what really pushes this epic, fast-moving music along.
JD Cronise's voice gets a bit buried in the mix, but he yowls nicely when you can hear him. The lyrics are probably the weakest point. They're colourful and evocative ("They come with teeth and tusks and talons/They come with horns and hooves and claws/A wailing cry is heard deep within the forest...") but their lyrics get very stilted at times ("Our legends tell of weapons/Wielded by kings of old/Crafted by evil wizards/Unholy to behold").
In fact, they're at their strongest when they don't try too hard, such as in the relatively simple "Maiden, Mother and Crone": "Walk not down that road/I can not tell you where it goes/Ask me no more questions/Some things you weren't meant to know."
"Gods of the Earth" suffers from some awkward lyrics, but their muscular, blazing, D&D-geeky brand of metal is almost powerful enough to drown that out. Definitely worth hearing.
5 Stars? Come on..... 2008-06-17
There is absolutely no reason this album warrants 5-stars. That is, unless you're totally new to the 'stoner rock' music scene and believe that Green Day is also the epitome of Punk Rock. The Sword do to metal what Green Day did for punk rock in 94 except that Green Day actually paid their dues for a few years before they became teenage poster darlings.
The Sword don't bring anything new to the table. Their live show is probably one of the most boring live acts I've seen in years and they certainly don't blow anyone away on their sophomore release. Granted it's a notch above the High On Fire worship of Age Of Winters but now these Austin-Indie kids want to show you they're reaaaally metal and can harmonize with their neat Orange amps and sparkle Ludwig drums. With no more money to be made in post-punk, the hipsters set their eyes to the always burgeoning world of metal.
No 5 star review here but I'm sure Jane Magazine will say:
"Wow, neat! It sounds like Black Sabbath but the band members are all cute so check out , gals!"
The true gods of the earth 2008-06-04
This album rocks! I love how loud the guitars are and the drums are also amazing, they mix well with the music and soungs, the vocals are also pretty good, i like how they mix with the actuel music. If you are one the many people out there how like good metle get this album now!
Bigger, Better? Faster, Weaker... 
2008-05-23
Expectations ran high for The Sword's second release. The pace is faster than their first effort, which gives it less doom and sludge. Since The Sword has a little more money in their pockets this time around I had hoped that production would improve. The guitars still sound muddy, and the vocals are acceptable in some parts, awful in others. The acoustic work on "Gods..." is definitely interesting, but can't save the rest of the album. After the intro, the first several tracks blur by and are easily forgettable. The only two stand-out songs are "Maiden, Mother & Crone" and "Black River," but once they are done, there is a quick acoustic outro and the album is over. Listening to this CD is like getting a great appetizer at a restaurant but the main course never comes.
Razor riffs gallop like heavy hoofs 2008-05-20
This album is an instant classic. The Sword freaking slays anything your listening to. I have met these guys a couple times and they are humble and down to earth. Their heavy crunch is retro, but not in a lame way. This is real metal plain and simple.
Great Follow Up 2008-05-18
Being a fan of Electric Wizard and old Kyuss, this band was recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I trust. The trust remains. This disc is wonderful. In parts it reminded me of old Pentegram, and the production retains a great bassy foundation without sacrificing the high end. The song writing is tight, and when the rare solo appears it serves the song well.
I'm also a bit prejudiced beacuse I just saw them last night (May 16) in Philly. Their stage sound is almost as good as their studio sound.
