There is no band in Austin right now more on their way to domination than The Sword, the lords of thunder that have ripped the local music scene’s indie heart with their heavy pummel of guitars and metal sprung from Black Sabbath’s burning altar. Riding upon an epic sweep, the local quartet has branded Red River behind a fierce doom and sludge onslaught, carving out an international reputation on the strength of their two acclaimed albums, 2006’s Age of Winters and last year’s Gods of the Earth, as well as being tapped to open for Metallica on their 2008 tour. We spoke with the Sword’s frontman J.D. Cronise about the band’s helping forge an unlikely metal resurgence from Austin, his songwriting, and the surprising details of the band’s third LP, planned to be released next year (acoustic guitars!). The Sword will be laying waste to Waterloo Park on Saturday, November 7, as part of the Fun Fun Fun Fest, scheduled to play at 4:25 on the Black stage.
Interview: The Sword
Austin Sound: Y’all absolutely dominated the Mohawk stage when y’all played there last month. Was it freeing to play a smaller club, or did it require much adjustment to the performance from the level of shows y’all are playing now?
J.D. Cronise: Thank you. Every show is a different experience. Of course there are all kinds of variables that change from show to show and from venue to venue. It’s part of a professional musician’s job to deal with that. If you become accustomed to playing one type or size of venue, you’d better have a pretty secure fan base everywhere you want to play. For a band like us, the plan is to play where the most people will come see us, wherever that happens to be.
AS: Austin has had few metal bands rise to prominence. Were there local influences for you guys when you were starting, and do you think being from Austin was a help or hindrance for y’all in the long run?
JDC: I moved here about ten years ago from Richmond, Virginia. I’d say the scene there was much more of an influence on me than what I found when I came to Austin. In Richmond in the late 90’s there were a lot of heavy bands of all sorts, and competition for shows was much fiercer than it is here. There was Gwar, Buzz*oven, Avail, Alabama Thunderpussy, Burn the Priest (who are now Lamb of God), and many others you’ve likely never heard of. Lots of dudes with long hair, beards, and tattoo sleeves. In Austin there’s a very eclectic music scene, but for some reason not much is heavy. People in Austin are generally less angry and drunk than people in Richmond were, so that might be a factor. There was a lot of testosterone in the air. I think The Sword being from Austin is definitely beneficial, though. We stand out here because there are so few heavy bands, and being in the center of the country is pretty ideal for touring.
AS: In that same vein, would y’all still consider yourself an Austin band, if you ever did, and do you have an opinion on the current state of the local metal scene?
JDC: We formed in Austin and we live in (or near) Austin. Saying you’re a [city name here] band sounds a little limiting, though. We’re a band from Austin, but basically we bad, we nationwide.
AS: Mythic narratives and structures obviously play a huge part of your songwriting aesthetic. Are there particular myths and cultural touchstones that y’all return to or draw on for inspiration?
J.D. Cronis: I try to draw inspiration from archetypal mythological forms and look for the commonalities among various stories and traditions. One such archetypal story is the hero’s journey, which is illustrated in countless myths, legends, books, movies, etc. I’ve always been fascinated by tales of a lone hero on a quest, and that plays prominently into the themes of the songs for our next album.
AS: Y’all are working on the third LP this fall. How is that coming along, when are you looking to get it out, and what can we expect from the album, especially in terms of Age of Winters and Gods of the Earth?
JDC: We’re currently rehearsing new material and demoing. It should be out next year sometime. As soon as we can get it done and get them to release it. As far as the difference from our previous albums, here are a few: it’s based around a psychedelic sci-fi/fantasy story, there are no songs about Vikings or Conan, there might be some keyboards, and there will definitely be acoustic guitars. It’s going to be a legit hard rock concept album. I think it will surprise people a bit, but in a good way.
AS: What are some your influences or inspirations that fans might find surprising?
JDC: One thing people always seem to be amused by is the fact that as a band we listen to a lot of hip-hop. They seem to assume we listen to nothing but Black Sabbath. I actually owned a Run-DMC record before I owned a Led Zeppelin record.
AS: The Sword seems to definitely be at the forefront of an international metal resurrection. We were wondering if, from the inside of the movement, y’all feel that there is a resurgence in the genre, and if so, what accounts for its return to the spotlight now and where you see yourselves as within it?
JDC: I heard Mastodon was at the forefront of this movement! I feel like we’re part of some sort of loose-knit international rock “scene” if you will, because there are some very talented, like-minded bands out there who we’ve made friends with over the past few years. However, I would hesitate to declare anything a “movement”. The music is out there, but people have to really react to it in a big way to constitute a movement, and I personally haven’t really seen that yet. It might help if radio played decent new bands or MTV still played videos. It’s a very vague and ill-defined thing at this point, if it even exists at all.
AS: Finally, are there any new young bands out there, local or otherwise, that y’all are digging right now and would like to draw some attention to?
JDC: Shout-outs to Ratking (ATX), Fingaar Bangaar (ATX), Golden Axe (Houston), Children (NYC), Graveyard (Götheburg, Sweden), Black Cobra (SF)… Saviours’ new record is out, go get that shit. Karma to Burn is back together, so if you’ve never checked them out, do it now. You could’ve been listening to them this whole time!
Websites:
www.swordofdoom.com
Myspace
We need more y’all-s inserted into this article! I found at least 3 places where it could have been used by Doug. (It’s like a game of Where’s Waldo?)
Do it Doug, do it!
Yeah, for some reason all those y’alls are perfectly legit in spoken speach but my brain explodes a little bit when seeing them typed.
At least we don’t have the same problem with lack of young band props that some of the other interviews have had. Saviors are on the same label, but nothing like seeing a Sabbath-clone band give props to a chunky Motorhead-clone.
That being said, both bands are pretty sweet. Hate having to miss them at FFF.
Both of y’all just leave my damn y’alls alone, y’hear!
I would request a Doug-to-English translator, but I’m afraid he’ll just start inserting “y’all” into all my reviews going forwards.
i personally like doug’s y’alls. it makes the source of the regional interview authentic
Oh please, don’t be fooled. Doug speaks through one of those computer operated voices by poking at a keypad with a pen held in his mouth. He’s like the Austin music scene’s Stephen Hawking!
awwww!