May 29, 2008

The Sword: Tonight @ Rudyard's


Austin “stoner-metal” band, The Sword, make the Houston stop of their nationwide tour tonight at Rudyard’s and I couldn’t be more pumped. Their first album, Age of Winters, released in 2006 on Kemado Records has been a favorite of mine since its release. The album was “lo-fi” before “lo-fi” became hipster-approved and featured J.D. Cronise singing about swords, axes, aurochs, wizards, and horned goddesses. My favorite feature of the album wasn’t the Lord of the Rings-inspired lyrics though; it was the long, loud instrumentals that usually made up either the entire song or at least 50% of the song. Dueling guitars, banging drums, glorious solos, it’s all here. Their second album, Gods of the Earth, was released this April and it also brings the indie-metal goodies.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt as connected to a band’s guitar work as I felt while listening to The Sword, so you can imagine my excitement when I was able to play the part of lead guitar for their track Freya on Guitar Hero II. You can also imagine the mixture of heartbreak and rage I felt after trying 12 times to complete Freya on hard, only to receive a 3-Star review from whatever shit reviewer that resides in the Guitar Hero world.

Now, I know you might be worried I’m losing my electro-loving ways by listening to music performed the same way musicians did in the 1970s which, in the blogosphere, is akin to the Middle Ages. To those worried, I say don’t fret, I’ll ask them to perform a Justice cover (currently leaning towards D.A.N.C.E.).

A couple of tracks are posted below along with a video, and a cover of the Justice song Stress performed by Fucked Up.

The Sword - Maiden, Mother & Crone

The Sword - Barael’s Blade

Fucked Up - Stress (Justice Cover)




The Sword with Torche and Stinking Lizaveta @ Rudyard's. Doors open at 9. Ticket prices: Don't know, don't care cuz' I'm ballin like that.

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