Heavy metallers The Sword hail from Austin, Texas. The band formed in 2003 by former Those Peabodys’ guitarist/vocalist J.D. Cronise. Cronise searched out a number of musicians before finally assembling the band completely with rhythm guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Trivett Wingo.
 

The band released their debut album ‘Age of Winters’ in 2006 on Kemado Records. They then embarked on a US tour in support of the album with the likes of Lacuna Coil, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and In Flames. They have also performed alongside Lamb of God, Clutch and Nebula. Their debut album has been described very interestingly as “…if Lynard Skynard, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Led Zepplin had a baby, that baby would be this album.”
 

The sword’s lyrics often deal with Norse mythology, and the novels of George R. R Martin inspire several of their songs.
 

In November 2007 The Sword released a split EP with the awesome Witchcraft, a Swedish doom metal band. The band’s highly anticipated second full-length album, titled ‘Gods Of The Earth’ was released on 1st April 2008. The album provided the band with their first chart success and was later re-released as part of a two-disc box set with Age of Winters in November 2008.
 

In March 2009 The Sword won two local music awards, the High Times Doobie Award and the Austin Music Award for Best Metal Artist.
 

Warp Riders is the name of the band’s upcoming third studio album, which is scheduled for release on 24th August. The band have spoke of the record saying that it ‘will be a concept album centered around an original science fiction narrative’, they have also announced that the album will have a ‘broader hard rock sound’. The band’s official website also gives an in-depth description of the album:
 

Warp Riders is The Sword’s first concept album, a science fiction maelstrom put to the storming, relentless riffage and pounding rhythms upon which the band has staked its reputation. It’s also their most flat-out, supercharged, adrenaline-pumping work yet, a chrome-plated war machine that lords over the blackened sky. From the street-prowling anthems “Night City” and “Lawless Lands” to the two-part showdown of “The Chronomancer,” to the furious mechanics of closing track “(The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fire,” The Sword forces eminent domain ruling over heavy metal for the next decade, and welcome all challengers for an ill-fated shot at the title.
 

Warp Riders tells the tale of Ereth, an archer banished from his tribe on the planet Acheron. A hardscrabble planet that has undergone a tidal lock, which has caused one side to be scorched by three suns, and the other enshrouded in perpetual darkness, it is the background for a tale of strife and fantasy, the battle between pure good and pure evil. How it’s told – through the dueling lead guitars of J.D. Cronise and Kyle Shutt, and the concussive rhythm section of bassist Bryan Ritchie and drummer Trivett Wingo – underscores the narrative with molten steel and unreal precision.

See The Sword perform live at Manchester Academy 3 on Monday 6th December.