Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

The Sword

 
Artist: The Sword
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
The Sword

Group Members:

Kyle Shutt, JD Cronise, Trivett Wingo, Bryan Richie

Similar Artists:

Mastodon, Wolfmother, High on Fire, Witchcraft, Wolf & Cub, Big Business, Torche, Rose Hill Drive, The Parlor Mob, Turn Me on Dead Man, The Confession, Fair to Midland

Influenced By:

Bathory, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow, Melvins, Dio, Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin

Formal Connection With:

Drunk Horse
See The Sword Lyrics
  • Formed: 2003, Austin, TX
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Age of Winters", "Age of Winters/Gods of the Earth", "Gods of the Earth

Biography

Not to be confused with the Canadian heavy metal band from the late '80s, named simply Sword, the Sword is a retro-metal four-piece hailing from -- of all places -- the singer/songwriter oasis of Austin, TX. First conceived in 2003, the Sword really hit their stride about a year later, when founding vocalist and guitarist J.D. Cronise joined forces with guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie, and drummer Trivett Wingo, and made a much raved-over appearance at Austin's famed SXSW festival. National touring stints with everyone from Clutch to indie rock darlings ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead followed, and by mid-2005 the Sword had been picked up by New York-based indie label Kemado Records, with their much-anticipated debut album, Age of Winters, appearing early the next year. Before completing their second album, they contributed two songs (one original and one Led Zeppelin cover) to a split 12" EP with Swedish heavy rockers Witchcraft in November 2007. Gods of the Earth arrived in spring 2008. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: The Sword
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
This article is about the American heavy metal band. For other uses, see The Sword (disambiguation).
The Sword

The Sword performing in San Francisco, California on February 25, 2006. From left to right: Kyle Shutt, Bryan Richie, Trivett Wingo and J. D. Cronise.
Background information
Origin Austin, Texas, USA
Genres Heavy metal, doom metal, stoner metal
Years active 2003–present
Labels Kemado (Worldwide)
Impedance (Australia)
Toy's Factory (Japan)
Associated acts Ultimate Dragons, Those Peabodys, Metallica, Witchcraft
Website www.swordofdoom.com
Members
J. D. Cronise
Kyle Shutt
Bryan Richie
Trivett Wingo

The Sword is an American heavy metal band that formed in Austin, Texas in 2003. Since its inception, the band has comprised vocalist and guitarist John D. "J. D." Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Trivett Wingo. Signed to New York-based record label Kemado Records, The Sword has released two full-length studio albums: Age of Winters in 2006 and Gods of the Earth in 2008. As of October 2009, a third album has been written and prepared for recording, with a 2010 release planned.

Contents

History

Early years and debut album (2003–2007)

After writing and recording music on his own for "a few years,"[1] singer-songwriter and guitarist J. D. Cronise enlisted the help of guitarist Kyle Shutt and drummer Trivett Wingo to form The Sword in 2003;[2][3][4] bassist Bryan Richie joined later in 2004.[5] After their first live performance together on March 18,[6] the band released an eponymous demo, The Sword,[4] which was followed the next year by an extended play (EP) entitled Freya.[4] After performing at the 2005 South by Southwest festival, the band was signed by New York-based record label Kemado Records.[2]

The Sword released their debut full-length album, Age of Winters, in February 2006, much of which had been written by Cronise before the band's formation.[1] In support of the album, the band toured in 2006 and 2007 with such support acts as, in the United States, Early Man, Priestess, Lacuna Coil and Trivium; in Europe, Nebula and Clutch; and in Japan, Lamb of God.[7] In June they contributed a new song, "Under the Boughs" (which was later featured on their second album), to the Kemado compilation Invaders,[8] and in November the song "Freya", from Age of Winters, was covered and featured as a playable track on the video game Guitar Hero II.[9] "Freya" was later released as a single in September 2007.[10]

Gods of the Earth and touring with Metallica (2007–2009)

In November 2007, the metal outfit released a split extended play with Swedish doom metal band Witchcraft; The Sword's contribution included a new track, "Sea of Spears", as well as a cover of English hard rock band Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song".[3] Gods of the Earth was the band's second album, released on April 1, 2008.[3] The album, much more of a collaborative writing effort than its predecessor,[1] provided the band with their first chart success when it reached number 102 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart.[11] In support of the album, the band completed the Gods of the Earth Tour, supported by bands including Machine Head, Lamb of God and Clutch.[12] The quartet also supported heavy metal veterans Metallica on their 2008 European Vacation Tour in July,[12] and returned as the opening act on a number of legs on their World Magnetic Tour, which continued through the opening months of 2009 until May.[13]

A two-disc box set containing Age of Winters and Gods of the Earth was released on November 25,[3][14] and the song "The Black River", from Gods of the Earth, was included on the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica, released in North America on March 29, 2009.[15] The Sword's music was also featured in the 2009 films Jennifer's Body ("Celestial Crown")[16] and Horsemen ("Maiden, Mother & Crone").[17]

Third album (2009–present)

On August 19, 2009, the band reported on their official MySpace profile that a third album was in the works, stating that "The writing process is nearing completion, and demoing will soon commence."[18] The blog entry also revealed that recording would begin in late-2009, for what was described as a "concept album centered around an original science fiction narrative."[18] In October 2009 it was revealed that the band would be performing at the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin in November, at which they plan to perform "a whole ton of stuff from our forthcoming and as yet untitled record," according to drummer Wingo, "[i]n keeping with th[e] tradition [of performing songs from Gods of the Earth before it was released]."[19] On the topic of the upcoming album, which will reportedly be recorded at the end of 2009, Wingo added that the band "have just finished writing [it]."[19]

Style, songwriting and influence

The Sword is commonly classified as doom metal,[2][4][20] alternative metal[2] and stoner metal.[20] Eduardo Rivadavia of allmusic describes the band as being "at the forefront of … the 'heritage' or 'retro metal' movement",[21] comparing their style to that of heavy metal veterans Black Sabbath and vocalist Cronise to Ozzy Osbourne.[21][22] Rolling Stone also likens the band to Sabbath,[23] as does AbsolutePunk.net in its review of Gods of the Earth, claiming that "It's impossible not to compare [the album] to the works of Black Sabbath."[24] The Sword has also been dubbed as 'hipster metal', though Cronise and the band object to such a label.[1]

While every member of the band contributes to the musical compositions, Cronise is the primary writer of the band's lyrics.[22] He often uses Norse mythology as a topic in his lyrics,[4] notably in the song "Freya",[25] but cites literature as his main influence, identifying such authors as George R. R. Martin, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft and Arthur C. Clarke as inspirations.[1]

The band has cited Black Sabbath (the band they are most commonly compared to) as a major influence, in addition to doom trio Sleep, sludge band the Melvins, thrash veterans Slayer, and heavy metal icons Iron Maiden and Deep Purple, among others.[25] The band's guitarists, in discussions of their musical influences, have identified 'classic' metal guitar players such as James Hetfield of Metallica, Pantera's Dimebag Darrell and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, and Cronise has also described Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top fame) as a "huge influence."[26]

Band members

Discography

Main article: The Sword discography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ziemke, Mark (March 4, 2008). "The Sword are Gods of the Earth". Ground Control. http://groundcontrolmag.com/detail/1/925/. Retrieved October 11, 2008. 
  2. ^ a b c d Rivadavia, Eduardo. "The Sword > Biography". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dcftxq9sldse~T1. Retrieved September 22, 2008. 
  3. ^ a b c d "The Sword". Kemado Records. http://www.kemado.com/artists.php?req=show&artist=8. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  4. ^ a b c d e "The Sword". Encyclopaedia Metallum. http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=57071. Retrieved September 14, 2008. 
  5. ^ McLennan, Scott (October 5, 2006). "The Sword takes a slice at vintage heavy metal". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. 
  6. ^ "Upcoming Shows". The Sword (Internet Archive). March 22, 2004. http://web.archive.org/web/20040322013942/http://swordofdoom.com/. Retrieved September 14, 2009. 
  7. ^ "Past Shows". The Sword (Internet Archive). October 12, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071012142619/http://swordofdoom.com/pastshows.html. Retrieved September 14, 2009. 
  8. ^ "Compilations". Kemado Records. http://www.kemado.com/artists.php?req=show&artist=14. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  9. ^ Roper, Chris (October 9, 2006). "Guitar Hero II Final Tracklist Revealed". IGN. http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/737/737921p1.html. Retrieved October 11, 2008. 
  10. ^ "Freya/Iron Swan > Overview". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:aiftxzyhldae. Retrieved October 11, 2008. 
  11. ^ "Artist Chart History - The Sword". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=705627&model.vnuAlbumId=1110628. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  12. ^ a b "Tour dates 2008". The Sword. http://www.swordofdoom.com/live2008.html. Retrieved December 4, 2008. 
  13. ^ "Tour dates 2009". The Sword. http://www.swordofdoom.com/live2009.html. Retrieved May 22, 2009. 
  14. ^ "The Sword Release Limited Box Set, 2008 Winter Tour with Metallica". Ground Control. November 19, 2008. http://groundcontrolmag.com/index.php?m=article&article_id=1302&type_id=2&npage=1. Retrieved 2008-12-08. 
  15. ^ "'Guitar Hero: Metallica': Complete Track Listing Revealed". Roadrunner Records (blabbermouth.net). January 23, 2009. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=113091. Retrieved April 11, 2009. 
  16. ^ "Jennifer's Body > Overview". allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gpfixztaldke. Retrieved October 10, 2009. 
  17. ^ "Horsemen (2009) - Soundtracks". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892767/soundtrack. Retrieved October 10, 2009. 
  18. ^ a b "Album #3". The Sword (MySpace). August 19, 2009. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=3145468&blogId=506296011. Retrieved August 23, 2009. 
  19. ^ a b "The Sword to perform at the Fun Fun Fun Fest". The Gauntlet. October 16, 2009. http://www.thegauntlet.com/article/1225/17078/The-Sword-to-perform-at-the-Fun-Fun-Fun-Fest.html. Retrieved October 27, 2009. 
  20. ^ a b "The Sword's Biography". Last.fm. http://www.last.fm/music/The+Sword/+wiki. Retrieved October 1, 2008. 
  21. ^ a b Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Age of Winters > Overview". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2v8n1v76zzua. Retrieved October 10, 2008. 
  22. ^ a b Owen, Rhonda (November 21, 2008). "Crediting forebears, The Sword plays old-school `hipster metal'". The Arkansas Democrat Gazette. 
  23. ^ "Gods Of The Earth : The Sword". Rolling Stone. May 15, 2008. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/19781231/review/20533040/gods_of_the_earth. Retrieved October 10, 2008. 
  24. ^ "Sword, The - Gods of the Earth - Album Review". AbsolutePunk.net. April 18, 2008. http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=312739. Retrieved October 10, 2008. 
  25. ^ a b DeRogatis, Jim (October 15, 2006). "A 'Winters' tale: How a bunch of metalheads got together and cranked out some buzz". Chicago Sun-Times. 
  26. ^ DeMasi, Vincent (March 1, 2006). "The Sword". Guitar Player. 

External links

Official
Other
v • d • e
The Sword
J. D. Cronise · Kyle Shutt · Bryan Richie · Trivett Wingo
Studio albums
EPs/demos
Singles
Concert tours
Related articles

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Sword".  Read more