The Sword "Gods Of The Earth" (Kemado)
There was a time when most of my metal was your metal, and most of your metal was my metal. Nowadays, everybody has different metal, and hardly anybody is making metal for everybody. Maybe that's why The Sword's debut album, Age Of Winters, got some good press: It sprung from a crotchety subset of metal (i.e. the "lichen-encrusted stoner" variety), but it gave off a "metal for everybody" vibe. Of course, not all metal people liked it. But I'm not here to discuss that. I'm here to note that the followup, Gods Of The Earth, is noticeably less entertaining, even though the songs are ostensibly more ferocious. The lyrical themes -- men of yore doing awesome things -- are the same. You may laugh, you may not. Likewise, the Sword may be laughing, and it may not be. (Awesomely stoopid sample lyric: "Our legends tell of weapons/Wielded by kings of old/Crafted by evil wizards/Unholy to behold," from "Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians.")
The essential question is not about "laughter," however; rather, it's about the all-important subset of "fun" called "danger." Unlike many versions of metal, The Sword's music does not overtly promote a breakdown of society. Thus, the aura of "danger" on Age of Winters came from the sense that these Texas dudes, as colossal metal-nerds, were at least a threat to their own reproductive prospects. Some would call it "mystique." I'm not hearing as much of it, however, on Gods Of The Earth. The Sword plays the heck out of these very-metal songs, and the drumming alone is worth some close listening. (The cymbals, in particular, are tuned to a stoneriffic frequency.) But after awhile, the mighty rumble seems to be all about technique. And "technique" is certainly not the way to everybody's heart.
"Gods Of The Earth" will be released on April 1.
Previously: Fuck Buttons | Cadence Weapon | Paul Oakenfold
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