The Sword: Gods of the Earth Review

Hello. The Sword would like to welcome you to the wonderful world of Dungeons and Dragons taken to the musical realm. Where witches fly on broomsticks and orcs pound their clubs and flex their massive green biceps. Where the fight for middle earth is taken to the battlefield and "Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians" is your warcry.

Sound a little too geeky for you? Well this riffcentric production will have you questioning the toughness of the thirty year old LARPERS who put on their homemade battle gear sewn together by their mother.

This is the kind of music every LARPER has been dreaming of, the kind of soundtrack that gets the Dungeons and Dragons freaks pumped for their upcoming duel. The Swords lyrics are predominantly fantasy driven with song titles as crazy as the aforementioned, "Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians" and "Maiden, Mother & Crone". Given the subject material, The Sword do a fantastic job of giving the rather geeky material a kick in the ass.

The album opens up with "The Sundering" an instrumental piece that starts off with an elegant acoustic opening and drives straight into power chords from hell and pounding drums. Once the electric comes in they never stop with a relentless onslaught of music so heavy you would need a wheelbarrow to carry it. The album chugs along with an old school thrashy sound, with a hint of some doom metal thrown in for good measure. Gods of the Earth has a retro metal sound, and only during a few moments of the duration of the album is it given a modern feel with random pinch harmonics dished out. The Sword close out their sophmore effort with an epic finish between "The Black River" and the instrumental "The White Sea" which has the band flaunting their guitar virtuosity.

Gods of the Earth is held together with riff after massive riff, and vocalist/guitarist J.D. Cronise’s vocals often sound a little hidden below the deep ferocity of the music. It’s not necessarily that his vocals weren’t mixed loud enough, it’s more of a case of him not having the vocal chops to overpower this already incredibly powerful music. His voice is solid, but doesn’t quite have enough strength to seer its way through the thumping drums and power chords.

Overall Gods of the Earth is a strong album that lacks any poor songs, but on that same note, it never really delivers any songs that will have you begging for more. It’s a tight and heavy album that is definitely worth repeated listens, and if you’re looking for a little kick in the ass, Gods of the Earth will deliver on every front.

Grade: B+