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By GREG MAKI
Age of Winters, the debut album by the Austin, Texas quartet The Sword, has generated a healthy buzz both in the mainstream media and among those in the metal world. Rolling Stone, the New York Times and other publications have given positive reviews, while MTV featured the band in its “You Hear It First” series spotlighting new acts. On the other side, The Sword comes to me recommended by Andrew Williams of Every Time I Die, and Dez Fafara of Devildriver recently selected the video for “Winter’s Wolves” as his “Bang of the Week” on MTV2’s Headbangers Ball.
One listen to Age of Winters, a compact nine-song, 43-minute effort, easily shows why there has been such a fuss. Musically, The Sword is as direct a descendant of the band that is the most responsible for metal as we know it today as any I have ever heard. I am referring, of course, to Black Sabbath. The Sword has the most classic metal sound of all but is more than a mere clone. The heavy, downtuned guitar riffs are distinctive and memorable, forming the foundation of each song. Though the vocals consist of singing rather than screaming, like Sabbath, there is little attempt at melody. Sabbath countered that with Ozzy’s unique wail, a dimension The Sword lacks. That only serves to put more attention on the huge wall of guitars. Only seven songs even have vocals. One of the album’s highlights is the instrumental “March of the Lor,” which features eight movements with great metal titles like “Iron Ships on Seas of Blood” and “Misery of the Plague-Born.” Need more proof of how old school these guys are? “Ebethron,” the album’s final track, includes a drum solo.
When it comes to the songs with lyrics, I haven’t a clue as to what this band is talking about. All I can guess is that they lost many hours of their youths to playing Dungeons & Dragons. Take the chorus of “Barael’s Blade”: “Bane of the demon lord/Slayer of the spider-priests/Spiller of the silver blood.” Or check out these lyrics from the Dez-endorsed “Winter’s Wolves”: “I would mount your heads on bloody spears/Outside your palace gates/And watch as crows peck out your eyes/And your cities are laid to waste.” If that doesn’t say metal, I don’t know what does.
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