I'm gonna get really high and listen to Stoner Metal.
The Sword - Warp Riders
The Sword was in my town of Minneapolis in June of this year. They played the Triple Rock with Dead Meadow and Romero. Both the opening acts were outstanding. I think I prefer Dead Meadow's live performance to their recordings. When The Sword took stage, I think I actually peed myself a little bit. If they come within your tri-state area, go. Get in a car and drive there. If you don't have a car, kill someone who does and take theirs. Make sure you bring enough weed. It will help to prevent your face from melting off.
My first Sword album was Gods of the Earth. An absolutely stellar album with some really stand out cuts (How Heavy That Axe comes to mind). I was instantly hooked and grabbed Age of Winters, their first album, the next day. Age of Winters is forty some odd minutes of continual riffage, I do not recall even a breakdown in that album. Gods of the Earth follows suit but with a more composed arc to the album. I feel that they have really come in to their own on Warp Riders. It blends the heaviness of Age of Winters with the composition of Gods of the Earth.
For those that don't know, Warp Riders is a "concept album." It is quite an epic sci-fi story set atop blistering riffs and heavy metal. I'll delve in to the progression of the story on a track by track basis so as not to spoil it all right off the bat. Suffice it to say, I love this album. It fulfills everything I find important in music: album oriented, story driven, melodic and it impels me to throw a clenched fist in the air and sing along to the chorus.
Technical Details
http://www.discogs.com/Sword-Warp-Riders/release/2895067
Pictures too, you say? Well let me see if I can figure out this here formattin' 'puter device and put some looky things in here.
The front of the jacket features a framed glossy picture of what I believe, according to the albums mythology, portrays The Sword, an ancient star ship capable of hyper-spatial flight. Aesthetically, I love the color scheme of the packaging for this album. Black, Red, White and fuck you there are no other colors - METAL. The glossy finish of the picture stands out nicely against the matte black background and the minimalist text does not distract from the presentation.
OH GOD HOW DID THIS GET HERE!? Sorry guys, I am not computer illiterate per se, however rotating the images in this blogger interface is somewhat beyond me. Please ignore the incorrect orientation today, I'll get it figured out for the future.
The back of the jacket displays the track lengths for each movement of the album. It also has a small white box in the lower right hand corner with a hand numbers X / 5000. This pressing is the Clear Red (I recall it being described as "Mars Red" on the product info from the distributor). My copy is numbered 3178 / 5000.
The interior of the jacket is comprised of more imagery from the album's canon, and the lyrics. The picture portrays three figures standing at the edge of a pool, I believe them to be the "Tres Brujas." They are shadowy and not entirely human in appearance, the ringed planet in the background adding to their otherworldliness.
The vinyl itself on this pressing is a dark red, almost brown. It is translucent, but just barely. Black custom labels display the title of both parts of the album. The spindle holes on my copy were not cut especially well, the label is frayed in the center. Also, it requires a little bit of force to get the spindle through the hole and drop it onto the platter. I was a little scared the first time I tried to play it, I could not get the record to lie flat, but that seems to have worked itself out. This is one of my favorite colored vinyl, it is fucking cool. It fits the imagery of the album and is generally bad ass.
So, I have a fat bowl packed and the record cued. I believe I am ready to slip the needle between the curves and ride the warp of vinyl into the womb of night.
Part I: The Archer & the Orb
I feel this album progresses in two movements, so instead of track by track, I'll go side by side. The vinyl itself looks really good, though I have played it numerous times. I see a small amount of sleeve scuffing and a couple unfortunate fingerprints; I was probably inebriated in one way or another most of the times I have listened to this album, my bad. However, none of this seems to affect playback. As far as clarity, that first Honey Crisp apple in autumn comes to mind. Clean, sweet and crunchy. Well maybe not crunchy, but I do love me a fresh Honey Crisp. Are we still talking about records? BRB going to the orchard.
I expect the entire album to be the same, I will refrain from addressing the condition unless something notable comes up.
The album begins with a rumbling undertone, mechanical yet organic. It does not delay for long though, the riffage begins almost immediately. The first track, Acheron / Unearthing the Orb, let's you know what you're in for - beginning with spaced-out guitars and moving into knuckle busting Stoner Doom. The jacket shows lyrics for this track, yet I do not hear them. Their text is italicized, unlike the rest of the lyrics. They seem like the songs and poems at the beginning of sci-fi / fantasy novels, you know, the ones you skip over to get to the story. Well you know what, fucking read them next time, you might miss out on a gem. In this instance the text reads:
Upon the forsaken world of Acheron,
the Archer is exiled from his tribe.
In his solitary wanderings, he make a
singular discovery within an ancient
ruin...
This begins our hero's journey. His call to adventure is an exile, during which he finds a glowing orb buried beneath ancient ruins. His old life is over, and an adventure awaits.
I was reading the text and finished just as the heavy distortion kicked in. At that moment, I was the Archer. And guess what guess what?
guys?
Guys guess what...
I just found
I found
it's the best thing...
best thing ever..
I FOUND A FUCKING ANCIENT GLOWING ORB IN THE RUINS.
In the first track we have essentially the entire "Departure" section of the hero's journey. We have the call to adventure (the exile), refusal of the call (implied as it was an exile), supernatural aid (the orb), crossing of the first threshold (entering the ruins), and the belly of the whale (the hero is exiled and must start anew).
The second track is the beginning of the next step in the adventure, the hero's "Initiation." Along his "Road of Trials," he meets three witches. One will love him, one will deceive him, and one will show him the way. These are the "Meeting of the Goddess," "The Temptress," and the third is the "Atonement." She shows him the way to ultimate power.
Musically, the second track thunders along an undercurrent of solid riffing. John Cronise's vocals are really well done, superior I think to the first two albums. There are some really groovy breakdowns and solos in this cut as well. Love this song.
Moving on to the third track, Arrows in the Dark, we have more of the hero's trials. We are bound for the black country of Acheron, a planet trapped in a tidal lock where one side gets perpetual light and the other perpetual dark.
Musically, this track starts of with an eerie howl as we approach the precipice of the dark side of Acheron. It builds into a full blast fear driven traversal of its mysterious and dangerous geography. Pursued by tribes of night, the guitars scream and bellow. The hero approaches an altar, presumably to gain the ultimate knowledge, "The Boon." The track grows darker and darker until it seems we are trapped or captured by the tribes. The melody seems falls away and we are droned into submission.
Track four, The Chronomancer I: Hubris, finds our hero on trial. He has gained the ultimate knowledge, learned from men of wisdom. He must escape, but his skin is his prison. The lyrics suggest that we are on the "Magical Flight" from the boon. The hero has learned to cross the aether and leave his body, he has mastered the art of temporal exploration.
"Arcane science of temporal exploration
known to no one of his kind
immortality through artificial
transformation
To rule a world that soon will die"
This track is really fucking rocking. Probably my second favorite track on the album. The riffing uses somewhat unorthodox syncopation. It builds and falls and reprises, cementing the feeling that we have truly transformed.
The fourth and final track of Side A is Lawless Lands. Our hero seems to have slipped backward in his journey. He is lost and alone, apart and exiled. "No woman will have him, no man calls him friend." He seems unsure as to what these powers mean and what to do with them. Something is amiss, and he again searches the dark side of the world. He has been led astray, the knowledge of the altar was incomplete and without purpose. He travels to the bright side of acheron, beneath the raging suns. It seems he finds his "Apotheosis" here. He is died and reborn.
"...a shining angel descends
down from the sky
Her coming was foretold"
This is the third witch. She gives him purpose and shows him the way to "The Return." We end side A here. The hero is transformed and must find his way back. Side B details the third stage of our hero's journey.
Part II: The Android and the Sword
The second half of this album has a different feel than the first. It reminds me at times of Thin Lizzy, especially the track Night City. The first track of side two, Astraea's Dream, is again instrumental with an accompanying poem.
Amid the lifeless crags of distant Leeth,
Astraea slumbers through lost aeons,
while great forces converge upon
Acheron. Her awakening fast
approaches...
This half of the album chronicles our hero's return to Acheron with his new found knowledge. He is god-like and no longer a member of his race. He knows the secrets of the blackest voids and is free from the chains of reality, the chains of gravity of the planetoids. He is able to call upon a sisterhood and slip between the folds and curves of space they create. He exists outside of time and space, "You don't age when you live out of time." However, even with his new abilities, the journey home will be just as difficult as the journey there.
Track two, The Warp Riders, is my favorite cut on this album. I really dig the sci-fi imagery of creating folds in space and slipping between them. The guitar work is impressive and melodic. The song feels like a whole; it is very well composed.
Night City, the third track on side two, is the bastard child of Thin Lizzy and Stoner Metal. The lyrics detail some underhand dealing of a group of pirates. "They shackle her wrists, it's too late too resist" - I believe the "she" refers to the ship. They sell The Sword off at auction, our hero must be the buyer. As close as I can tell, this the "Help From Without." The archer's dealings with the pirates ground him once again in reality, and allow him to integrate into society. Though still an outsider, he is capable of returning to Acheron.
The Chronomancer II: Nemesis, crunches along rhythmically throughout. They use some interesting vocal effects in the second half, they are really doomy and demonic. The song pauses for a moment toward the end and vocals drone as the guitar comes to a grinding halt. The tempo picks back up; The Archer has Returned. The lyrics detail an ancient enemy, but one who has already failed at this point in The Archer's journey.
The fifth and final track on side B is (The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fire. It is in this song that the Archer becomes the "Master of Two Worlds." He sails his ship home, only to find his way blocked by a fleet of warships. A Deus Ex Machina emerges in the form of an angel and choir. She bring "Tears of Fire" that are meteors. They destroy the armadas blocking the heroes path, but at a terrible price. Acheron is wiped clean and reborn in a sea of fire. This is an interesting end to The Archer's journey, the album ends with "The Captain" finding his vengeance. I believe the Archer is truly home at this point, he is The Captain of not only his ship, but the entirety of the world from which he was exiled. Musically the track ends where the album began, reprising the opening guitar work.
If you don't own this album and are a fan of metal, you are doing it wrong. From start to finish, the album is a triumph. I less than patiently wait for The Swords next release, though I have heard nothing even hinting at anything soon. Listening to all of the albums, you can hear a definite maturation of the band and the prospects for what they will do next are exciting.
This got rrrrrreeeeealllllllly fucking long, so tomorrow I will keep it brief. I have a couple of albums in mind, we'll see what the winner is. If at any time reading this grows tiresome, I blame the dope.
No comments:
Post a Comment