The Sword
Warp Riders
(Kemado Records)

The Sword, a band from Texas with a powerful retro-metal sound reminiscent of early metal bands like Black Sabbath, have released their third studio album entitled Warp Riders. Head-banging rhythms, screaming guitars and a healthy dose of mythology are the standard fare of the genre and Warp Riders has all that good stuff. The Sword doesn’t push the envelope though, as there’s no place in their brand of metal for weird organ solos or sitars; this is metal the way it was born to be and the way some folks will always like it.

Warp Riders features two instra-metal songs, “Acheron/Unearthing the Orb” and “Astraea’s Dream.” The best cut is the single “Tres Brujas” (“Three Witches”), which made me think of the three witches in Macbeth (yes I’m a Shakespeare geek). However, when the lyrics didn’t seem to be associated with the play, I checked out the music video. Although the video started off promising with a foreboding cave, eventually some dude came out of the cave and there was a spaceship, so I guess it’s a different three witches. This doesn’t take away from the coolness of the song though.

Though this album doesn’t quite do it for me, I do have to give credit to The Sword for keeping the early metal sound real. If you like your metal informed with a 70’s sensibility, but pounded out with a modern kick in the ass, go get Warp Riders and bang your head silly.