THE SWORD
Age of Winter
Kemado Records
· According to Chuck Klosterman, The Sword were the best band he saw at South By Southwest in 2005.
I’m coming clean. I’ve seen Love, Actually more than five times. I regularly cry at movies. I can sing along to two songs on the new Ashlee Simpson album. All this is to say that, despite the fact that good music is good music, there is no reason I should be so into Age of Winter, the debut full-length from The Sword.
Some say they are Austin, Texas’s answer to Black Sabbath. To me, they sound like a legit version of the band that all the metalhead characters in Clerks keep talking about. Regardless of who they remind you of, there are certain undeniable truths about this record. The sludgy riffs are massive, the percussion is bone-crushing and the soloing is fierce and relentless. The fact that the song titles are littered with mythical allusions and ominous references takes a back seat to just how heavy this record is. With duelling harmonic guitar leads and ferocious power stops, this is old-school metal with a tiny hint of stoner rock – the kind of stuff that demands violent head-nodding and air guitar. Play at maximum volume to ensure optimum enjoyment.
|
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.