Album of the Week Vol. 5 - Gods of the Earth

I hate that I have to bring it up every time I listen to The Sword, but Thank you Guitar Hero.

That said, let's stick to the band itself. The Sword hals from music wondertown Austin, Texas although they sound as if they charged off the gangplank out of their Drekkar fresh from warfare somewhere in Reykjavik. Heavy heavy riffs, bone crushing drum work and tribal vocals scattered the shattered landscape of their music. The Sword's first outing Age of Winters is a doom fest that boasted some of the sludgiest metal some have heard in a while although rife with outstanding catchy riffage that shines through the muck and mire. From the standard "Freya" to the epic instrumental "March of the Lor", you get sucked into their furious dynasty of rock.

The new album, Gods of the Earth, follows up with yet another bone crushing punch. The formula doesn't change. The riffs are so monumentaly epic that one can only assume these guys are reaching for the mythological at all turns. The album never ceases to be as intense as it can. Even when they pick up some acoustic guitars here and there, it's never to slow down the war machine. The album opens with a stunning minute and a half instrumental "The Sundering" before plowing into "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" which totally slays. The first single, "Fire Lances of the Hyperzephyrians" is just as it sounds: brutal. The riffage is fast and furious and the drums are especially kinetic. A more polished version of the previously released "Under the Boughs" appears on the album, but the new additions and the polishing of the song is a definite plus. Other standouts are "Lords" and "How Heavy This Axe." If anything, this is a not miss album for fans of heavy metal music.



If that post apocalyptic video doesn't do it for you, then I don't know who you are.