The Sword

I just heard the new album and I have to say it really rips. Definitely their best so far.

new video, part 1 of 3

Star Wars theme... ZZ Top... Man they're all over the place on this one.

It's cool though!

Really enjoying this new one. Could end up in the Top 3 puchases for 2010 for me. I just keep spinning it over and over.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Really enjoying this new one. Could end up in the Top 3 puchases for 2010 for me. I just keep spinning it over and over.

Yep, couldn't agree more, it gets better with repeated listenings as well. Night City is so damn catchy it stays in my head for hours.

The album length is perfect. 48 minutes of GREAT music, instead of 80 minutes loaded with filler like most bands. LP length baby, that's where it's at.

I'm listening to this now and I love the 70's retro vibe going on. I've not really heard much of their other cds and have seen them in all places Wal-mart but have never gotten any. I may have to.

Not to change the subject here but another great 70's retro band and to me their debut is fantastic from the band Gypsyhawk. There is a thread I made about them. If you like old Thin Lizzy style rock you should love this band. The singer you'd swear was Phil Lynott.

Wargod51

This is gonna be a top album for me this year.I dig the whole thing.Love the 70's vibe and the vocals are much improved.

I don't like the new one at all.

I finally got this on Friday and have been lovin' it!!! It's like discovering a 70's metal band you never heard before!

The new album is definitly their best so far, and that's based only on one listen!

I was never interested in this band before but I'm thinking of picking this one up. Lots of good reviews coming in. Is it stoner rock, 70s rock, old school metal or all of the above? I'm not a fan of stoner rock.

Metal Misfit wrote:

I was never interested in this band before but I'm thinking of picking this one up. Lots of good reviews coming in. Is it stoner rock, 70s rock, old school metal or all of the above? I'm not a fan of stoner rock.

From what I've read, they were tagged a "stoner rock" band based more on the equipment they use in the studio (amps & whatnot), which are popular in the stoner rock genre, but not the fuzzed-out guitars. I don't think they sound like Fu Manchu or Orange Goblin, 2 of my favs of that ilk.

70's rock/metal is a pretty decent description I suppose. The drums, especially on thir first 2 releases, have a very tribal booming feel to them. Add some cool guitar and clean vocals. This latest release really amped up the "metal". The sci-fi theme of this one gives it a 70's vibe too.

So to answer your question, yea, it's D.) all of the above.

I think there's more 70's rock incorporated into this new one. The concept and artwork only add to it. There is some "stoner" kind of riffs and stuff; there's also a good amount of doom, whether the doom elitists want to admit it or not.

And I'll say it again (I said it long ago, somewhere), those who like The Sword and doom metal need to check out Valkyrie.

Eyesore wrote:

I think there's more 70's rock incorporated into this new one. The concept and artwork only add to it. There is some "stoner" kind of riffs and stuff; there's also a good amount of doom, whether the doom elitists want to admit it or not.

I don't hear the doom much in the newer one, but I rarely know what I'm talking about anyway. But yea, you could throw a "doom" tag into the mix on the 1st two albums as well if it tickles your fancy. For me personally, I tend to think of a slower gloomy vibe with doom. This new album is very up-tempo.

And that Valkyrie sounds pretty nifty too.

Definitely less on the new one, which has the traditional metal and old school rock beefed up.

The Sword have never been "doom" or "stoner". They tune their guitars low and use Orange amplifiers, that's about the only similarity.

They play metal. Just plain "metal". Metal of the classic late 70's/early 80's...but just plain metal nonetheless. No additional adjectives are required.

If I made a compilation of stoner or doom, The Sword would be nowhere near it.

I completely disagree.



That's quite doomy. If not, then Pentagram never did any doom. Sabbath never did any doom. Plenty more examples of that, too.

They're not a doom band, of course, but they definitely incorporate a lot of what makes up a so-called doom band.

You just agreed with me. I said they tuned their guitars down and used vintage amplification, that gives you a "sound", that doesn't give you a "style".

Doom & Stoner are both STUPID f*cking terms anyway, but The Sword aren't either of those classifications.

P.S. - Sabbath never called themselves doom, metal or any of those designations. Tony Iommi said "I always thought we were a rock band".

It's the magazine writers who came up with all these dumb handles.

Well, for the record, I never said they were a doom band. I said "there's also a good amount of doom," which there is. We can argue the necessity for labels all day, but then everything would be rock or metal. I guess you can say you're right, then, but that doesn't change the fact that people associate music with those terms, thus using them to describe a bands sound to someone is entirely justified.

Saying, however, that they play "metal of the classic late 70's/early 80's" is pretty damn vague in scope, considering the vast amounts of differing styles during that time.

When I'm describing them to people, I just say they play straight on 70s style metal. They don't sound to me like a doom or stoner band.

sheets wrote:

When I'm describing them to people, I just say they play straight on 70s style metal. They don't sound to me like a doom or stoner band.

Because they aren't either of those things, doom, stoner, or 70s metal. But they are parts of each.

If you wanna label them,just call them f@ckin awesome

Thrasher73 wrote:

If you wanna label them,just call them f@ckin awesome

Works for me!!