Comments on: THE SWORD BE BORIN ME

By: Sebastian Thomas

Sebastian Thomas — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 01:58:05 +0000

The Sword granted, variety isnt necesarily high. and yes gods of the earth seemed recycled a bit. but the sundering best song ever on the new album and even how heavy this axe, lords, and maidan mother and crone, still have those gnarly riffs that i think is what the swords about in the first place. but age of winters was still better. the Sword best band ever

By: NICE BOY WINGERSCHMIDT’S “BEST” ALBUMS OF 2009 | MetalSucks

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:02:06 +0000

[...] However, the more I listened and re-listened to several of this year’s releases I came to realize just how many great albums surfaced — twas kwite a year indeed. And thus the list of recordings from two-double-ohhhh-niner that did and continue to do something super-special for me grew to a diverse & fiery cannon of seven unique and incredible albums, as well as a few high-praising honorable mentions and one I overlooked last year. I’ve left some of my all-time favorite bands off the list because the records they released this year just weren’t enough of a leap forward enough to justify calling this particular round of work the “best”. However, I strongly believe in the powerful nature of vacillating trajectories of artistic careers, and I expect great things in the future from all of my former boys, even if things no look so good. [...]

By: WILL BARONESS TAKE THE COVETED BEST LIVE SET OF THE YEAR AWARD TWO YEARS IN A ROW? | MetalSucks

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:01:08 +0000

[...] So who’s right? Well, as we hopefully learned last week, music criticism is not about right and wrong (despite some folks’ insistence on deeming others *wrong* for expressing their opinions, pedantic as they may be). I will continue to wish Baroness the best, and I truly hope that the next offering blows all previous efforts away. But I’d be lying if I said I’m not somewhat skeptical. Oh well — they can’t possibly fuck up a winning streak nearly as much as these watered-down dudes. [...]

By: Friends of Swords

Friends of Swords — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:10:21 +0000

Just because some of you like this album, doesn’t mean Kip is an idiot for not liking it. It’s also sort of silly to get angry about someone else’s opinions about music. Seriously. I happen to agree with him about Gods of the Earth. It’s boring. I’ve listened to it 10 times and it continues to be both boring and, more importantly, completely unmemorable. This is coming from someone who LOVED Age of Winters and felt it was re-invigorating metal.

Oh, and I don’t like Textures, either. But I can’t wait for the new YOB record!!!!!!!

By: RETRO ROCK RUMINATIONS: YEAR LONG DISASTER, KARMA TO BURN, THE SWORD | MetalSucks

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:29:19 +0000

[...] the track “How Heavy This Axe” from their early-2008 release Gods of the Earth (read Kip’s review) for free download. I’ve never been huge on this band, but there’s definitely some [...]

By: don't panic

don't panic — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:47:06 +0000

the mighty sword owns you and yo mama. and why the fuck would you compare the sword with textures. they don’t even remotely resemble each other. is it because you thought “why don’t i show off my street cred by referencing some obscure proggy band which i heard of recently to justify my pretentious bashing of one of the greatest bands to emerge in the past couple of years” yeah, i’m quite pissed that you gave 2/5.

By: ON NEW ALBUM WATERSHED, OPETH KEEPS IT SIMPLE, ALLBEIT BRUTAL, AND BANDLEADER MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT PRESENTS US WITH SOME OF THE CHEESIEST LYRICS SINCE JOURNEY | MetalSucks

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:25:06 +0000

[...] multiple listens: I definitely liked it the first time through (which is more than I can say for other recent, highly-anticipated albums — at least by me), despite finding it pretty easy to navigate through/wrap my head around [...]

By: Colin

Colin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:21:12 +0000

I think it’s trendy to not like the Sword now. It’s like buyer’s remorse by “troo” metalheads. I call BS. This album blasts. So they didn’t make any great leaps from Age of Winters to this. Metallica did that once and it was called St. Anger. or Load. Or ReLoad.

I’ll give MetalSucks a pass because of the recent Only Living Witness referral. But you have been warned….

By: Kip muthafuckin WINGERSCHMIDT

Kip muthafuckin WINGERSCHMIDT — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:32:23 +0000

Oh Princess….perhaps you and I are truly meant to be

By: Princess

Princess — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:51:36 +0000

how is it possible that i always agree with your reviews???
spot on.

By: Sammy

Sammy — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:21:12 +0000

Hehe, they’re playing at a Unitarian Church in Philadelphia in May.

And since when did metal have to be “brutal” to be good? I like their Metallica meets COC/Down sludge influence. I think two albums in it’s really unfair to make the AC/DC comparison.

By: deadspout

deadspout — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:12:00 +0000

I have a feeling they’ll learn from their surroundings in the pressence of Pepper the southern riff master, all are major Sabbath fans.

By: Randal Graves

Randal Graves — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:29:20 +0000

I’d probably give it a three, but I cannot help but think of another band that kept to the tried-and-true Motorhead/AC/DC “we’re never gonna change” shtick, Amon Amarth, who kept putting out solid, heavy, aggressive, if not mindblowing records. The reason, IMO, that With Oden On Our Side was such an improvement from the previous few albums (okay, Fate of Norns was pretty goddamn good, too) was a tweak in the dynamics. No big changes, but the songs felt more organic and have more staying power than Vs. the World or The Crusher, for example. The Sword can riff and that’s all I really want them to do. I just hope they don’t become boring. You don’t need a new template every album to maintain that energy.

By: jaime

jaime — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:59:27 +0000

the hero worship of “textures” from the guys on this blog is getting sick… this band might be the least damn original metal band i have ever heard… they go from sounding EXACTLY like meshuggah to sounding just like mike patton and faith no more… this album is incredibly boring and these guys are somewhat of rip off artists… i’ve listened to the album twice and all it made me want to do is listen to Obzen….

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:51:33 +0000

i usually disagree with most the writers’ picks of bands on here…but in a weird sphere of double negativity, i have to agree that the new Sword album isn’t as good as the first one. It has definitely gotten better after several listens, but i think lacks the “awe” that a band like Bathory would do on each new record they put out (if we’re going along with metalesque viking type bands), or like Sword themsevles did on the debut. Gods of the Earth is a 6 or 7 out of 10 if Age of Winters was a 10 out of 10 (which it was…no argument there).

Of course, speaking of Metallica, Ride the Lightning was kinda boring imo vs Kill Em All and Master of Puppets…so …just maybe that will rub off on the band…

By: Kip muthafuckin WINGERSCHMIDT

Kip muthafuckin WINGERSCHMIDT — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:48:57 +0000

Actually mate, I wanted to give the album one and a half stars but I kept it at two *because* of their impressive success….I just felt like it was way more warranted based off the first album. Not such a big fan of Metallica and/or Down these days either, but I like The Sword as openers for either/both of those bands — good match, no question.

I don’t feel like The Sword “sold out” — I just expect and appreciate the evolution of artists, and there’s nothing in that realm happening here. Moreover, there are barely any hooks to get me goin on GOTE….believe me, I had super-high hopes for this one, and it saddens me in the pants.

I’m not the only cat who feels this way:
http://www.avclub.com/content/music/the_sword

By: Wayne

Wayne — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:48:27 +0000

This is surprising to me, Kip. I was positive you were going to like this one. There’s a lot of “meh” sentiment from different corners on this record, but it revs me up every time, especially that stretch in the middle with “Fire Lances While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood”, “To Take the Black”, and “Mother, Maiden & Crone”.

Oh well.

By: deadspout

deadspout — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:23:14 +0000

Are you kidding me? Two?

**knock knock** they are touring with Metallica and Down in Europe…they are obviously doing something right…maybe not by your standards…but they are doing something right to be this successful

I find it funny how you people bitch whine and moan about a band changing their sound “Selling Out” and when a band is true to their sound…it gets boring…

Hypocrites.