Austin Sound

Austin’s The Sword may be, as their latest full length album claims, the Gods of the Earth, but that doesn’t mean the gods-on-high have forgotten them. Following up on what was called by many the essential metal album of 2006, as well as an endorsement by a certain video game that shall remain nameless, the Sword had a lot of pressure coming from all sides. Can a band that owes so much of its style to now-defunct metal legends continue its trend of wanton, no-holds-barred retro metal without having the irony fade? The answer, simply, is yes: if this is Th Sword’s sophomore slump, I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

Falling heavily on the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” doctrine, Gods of the Earth, like Age of Winters before it, starts off with a vocal-free intro track to build momentum. This time around, though, the bands maturity, not simply their power chords, blares through. An acoustic guitar, supported by restrained electric notes, establishes a calm that quickly breaks into the more familiar hail of overdriven triplets in a way that can only be described as spiritually satisfying. As one quickly discovers, the orchestration on this album makes every track an epic feat as the band explores layered instrumentation, varying densities of sound, and (gasp) melodic guitar leads.

“The Frost-Giant’s Daughter” essentially works as a transition piece from the band’s former work, breaking little new ground but rocking as hard as ever, with vocalist/lead guitarist J.D. Cronise’s wailing vocals asking us to “Look to the sky for a good star to guide you/ And pray that the morning you’ll meet”. One should note the three seconds at the tracks’ initiation that, for perhaps the first time ever, bassist Brian Richie can be heard playing alone before immediately sliding back into place as low-end mirror of his six-stringed allies. Trivett Wingo’s drumming on “How Heavy this Axe” blisters along at a feverish pace, with a much slower lead line dancing effortlessly atop it, illustrating that the band has at last captured the value of contrast and counterpoint.

“Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians”, the album’s first single, is a battle unto itself, both to listen to and to say. Despite being one of the shortest tracks, it has the heft to make up for it, with great cymbal work and an intro/outro that ties the entire piece together flawlessly. “Maiden, Mother, & Crone” represents the height of the album, however, with an infectious start-stop verse that one can’t help but lose a few brain cells banging his head to and vocals that break the normal rhythmic patterns that Cronise seems to fall into, making for a new and powerful experience not easily forgotten.

While the Sword may claim membership among the gods, they are not without an Achilles Heel. Some may continue to complain at the band’s homogenous sound — ff one feels at home listening to the main riff of “To Take the Black”, it’s only because of its doppelganger-like resemblance to the bridge of “Barael’s Blade,” written two years previous. Yet somehow the riff feels reinvented rather than rehashed, perhaps because the band reprises it yet again during Gods of the Earth’s final untitled track, making it hard to know whether such a resemblance signals intentional circularity or simply the absence of creativity. For now, I’ll assume the former. Undeniably, the band leaves little room to breathe between the tectonic riffage, making it hard to distinguish one’s place in the album.

Despite these criticisms, each apocalyptic riff, however familiar or alien, goes down like wine at the Last Supper. It can get anyone, as J.D. Cronise states in “The Black River,” ready to “do what must be done” and pump their fists until eternity comes. With The Sword’s Gods of the Earth, one sees that it is still possible to win both the battle and the war.

Mp3 from God’s of the Earth:
The Sword - Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians

Websites:
www.swordofdoom.com
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