Gods of the Earth (2008) The Sword emerge from the lumbering sludge of Black Sabbath-style '70s metal that defined their debut, Age of Winters . Now worshipping at the '80s… The Sword Metal
Music Review

Gods of the Earth (2008)

The Sword
Reviewed by Marc Weingarten | Apr 15, 2008
The Sword | SWIFT SWORD The band trades the Sabbathy-riffs of its debut for a more (Judas) Priest-ly bearing on sophomore disc Gods of the Earth
Image credit: Jimmy Hubbard
SWIFT SWORD The band trades the Sabbathy-riffs of its debut for a more (Judas) Priest-ly bearing on sophomore disc Gods of the Earth
EW's GRADE
A-

Details Release Date: Apr 01, 2008; Lead Performance: The Sword; Genre: Metal

The Sword emerge from the lumbering sludge of Black Sabbath-style '70s metal that defined their debut, Age of Winters. Now worshipping at the '80s altar of Judas Priest, the foursome crafts steely guitar-monies for Arthurian epics like ''Maiden, Mother & Crone'' on Gods of the Earth. Although vocalist J.D. Cronise can't quite hit the castrato peaks of Priest frontman Rob Halford, Sword's hell-bent-for-leather propulsion (''Under the Boughs'') and twisty song structures (''Lords'') are more than enough to induce your ears to bleed with pleasure. A-
DOWNLOAD THIS: Hear ''Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians'' on the Sword's MySpace page

Originally posted Apr 11, 2008 Published in issue #987 Apr 18, 2008 Order article reprints