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The Sword: Age of Winters

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The Sword performs "Iron Swan" on "Age of Winters"

So dig this scenario: you’re at a party, and there’s some thunderous riffs rumbling out of these massive speakers. The tunes really grab you. You pride yourself on your knowledge of heavy rock, but what you’re hearing is unfamiliar riffage. Blue Cheer? No, there’s none of the faux blues wanking they so frequently lapsed into. Maybe it’s early Rush? No, there aren’t enough prog-rock twists and turns. You break down and ask the party’s host, “What record is playing?” The Sword? Why have you never heard of this band? If you smoke pot, lots of pot, own a Queens Of The Stoneage album or lava lamp, or believe you’ve experienced an epiphany while listening to Black Sabbath, you should already know about this band. You should have picked up some unique, subconscious vibration in your brain that foretold of The Sword’s coming. These dudes have their shit down. From the far-out, fantastical song titles—“Barael’s Blade,” “The Horned Goddess,” “Celestial Crown,” are just a few examples—to the Tarot Card artwork gracing the disc’s cover, and the thick slabs of kinda psychedelic, but mostly metal guitar, bass, and drums this quartet brings down like a hell hammer on your head, Age Of Winters doesn’t miss a thing. And these guys can play. Old school metal heads, consider your prayers answered.