The Sword

I need to hit up Best Buy later tonight. All of the new releases I wanted that came out today were more expensive at Newbury Comics. But of course that didn't stop me from buying other CDs there. Haha.

Sigh...

Well, I played it in the car from and back into work this morning and then a few times at my desk. It pains me to type this, but I'm not digging the new album.

It's kinda bland. All the songs kind of blend together like one big plodding, meandering tune. There are are no hooks or tempo changes. The only way I know I'm coming up to the end is when I hear the live bonus tracks kick in. Otherwise, you could put this on repeat and it would seem like an endless loop of one 50-minute long track.

The 'Cheap Sunglasses' cover is cool, though.

It took me a few tries to get into it. It's not nearly as memorable as Warp Riders. I think the absence of their former drummer is very apparent. However after several spins, I really started to like it alot.

This review at Rateyourmusic doesn't make any sense to me:

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I listen 4,5 song of this album and i believe is ok to give this rate....Sorry but i cant to listen more this bad copy of "Ozzy" and "Black label society"

I'm not super familiar with BLS, but I have heard enough to know that The Sword sounds nothing like them. As for Ozzy, the only thing I can think of is the guy thinks Sabbath was all Ozzy. I know not everyone is as knowledgable of music as us on this board, but that statement is downright embarassing IMO.

Saw them live for the 3rd time last weekend. If they come to your town do yourself a favor & check them out. They are great in a small setting, put on one hell of a show. They played for almost 2 hours. Hung out with J.D. & Kyle after the show, super nice guys.

These guys are just fantastic. I have Age Of Winters, Warp Riders and Apocryphon and I love all three of them. They definitely have a retro sound sprinkled with a dash of Doom/Thrash.

I did a Spotify on this band from a recommendation from a friend. I like them. Need to pick up their stuff.

I like them well enough, but they don't really hold my attention

Hamer12 wrote:

Saw them live for the 3rd time last weekend. If they come to your town do yourself a favor & check them out. They are great in a small setting, put on one hell of a show. They played for almost 2 hours. Hung out with J.D. & Kyle after the show, super nice guys.

I like these guys, but the last time I saw them live wasn't anything to write home about. They just stood there, completely back-lit so they only appreared as sillouettes at their respective mic stands. Soundwise, they were fine, but nothing visual that stood out and very little stage banter. I could have gotten the same effect by assembling the same playlist on my computer and had more stimulating visuals from YouPorn.

They were much more exciting as an opening act for Metallica years ago. At least they had a big stage in-the-round to run around on.

Their last album really felt like a band sitting still and spinning their wheels, too much repetition and as a whole not as successful as their prior albums. They really need to vary up the formula next time out because they're getting predictable and frankly dull.

When I saw them live in 2008 they were fantastic, but that was also with their original drummer.

S.D. wrote:

Their last album really felt like a band sitting still and spinning their wheels, too much repetition and as a whole not as successful as their prior albums.  They really need to vary up the formula next time out because they're getting predictable and frankly dull.  

When I saw them live in 2008 they were fantastic, but that was also with their original drummer.  

I just got around to listening to their newest album, and feel the same. Warp Riders is their best album to date. Hopefully they just hit a slump and turn out something that great again.

Funny you should bump this thread. I just recently re-visited their last album and sadly, my opinion hasn't changed. I thought being away from it and giving it a fresh listen might give it legs. Warp Riders was sooooo good that it makes Apocrophon sound so boring and uninspired. I really hope they step it up on their next one.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Funny you should bump this thread. I just recently re-visited their last album and sadly, my opinion hasn't changed. I thought being away from it and giving it a fresh listen might give it legs. Warp Riders was sooooo good that it makes Apocrophon sound so boring and uninspired. I really hope they step it up on their next one.

On the one hand this is good to hear and not... Warp Riders was my first intro to the band and I've played that disc to death over the last couple of years.... great stuff....

Several times I've gotten close to picking up Apocrophon but just haven't .... so I guess I'll hold off and look to get their earlier stuff....

Warp Riders was a GREAT album....

I liked their first 2 albums just fine, but Warp Riders really upped their game. I just thought it was so much better than the 2 it preceded (almost to the point of sounding like a different band), so expectations were high for Apocryphon. While initially disappointed, I figured some time away from it might change my opinion. But nope, still pretty boring.

I still think "Gods of the Earth" was the best. "Warp Riders" was pretty good after that. I feel like something was lost when Trivett Wingo left.

I'm really enjoying Apocryphon. I'm a huge fan of their entire catalogue, though.

They'll never top "Iron Swan." Such a bad-ass tune!

I really like Apocryphon and I enjoy it as much as Warp Riders and Gods of the Earth.

-ing an ancient thread.

As I mentioned a few pages (and a few years!) ago I caught the tail end of these guys' set opening for Metallica in 2009,since we got there late I only heard one song but that was enough for me to think "Hey, these guys sound pretty bad-ass, I should check out some of their stuff."

Fast forward to early 2015, I finally got their Warp Riders CD in a trade this week and it kicked my ass all the way to work on this morning's commute.

Better late than never, right?

Fat Freddy wrote:

-ing an ancient thread.

As I mentioned a few pages (and a few years!) ago I caught the tail end of these guys' set opening for Metallica in 2009,since we got there late I only heard one song but that was enough for me to think "Hey, these guys sound pretty bad-ass, I should check out some of their stuff."

Fast forward to early 2015, I finally got their Warp Riders CD in a trade this week and it kicked my ass all the way to work on this morning's commute.

Better late than never, right?

It's a great album. The rest of their discography is worth tracking down as well.

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It's a great album. The rest of their discography is worth tracking down as well.

Oh yeah, I plan on investigating more of their albums... of course, at the rate I'm going, it'll be the year 2027 before I get around to them

On a semi-related note: the copy of Warp Riders that I received was missing the back cover/tray card. If someone out there in HOMie land has the CD, could ya do a brother a solid and scan/post a pic of the disc's back cover that I could print out?? I'd surely appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Witchfinder wrote:

I really like Apocryphon and I enjoy it as much as Warp Riders and Gods of the Earth.  

I like all their cds too.

They just announced on their Facebook page that new album "High Country" will be released August 21st.

S.D. wrote:

They just announced on their Facebook page that new album "High Country" will be released August 21st.  

Hooray!