The Sword - Apocryphon (2012)

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The Sword - Apocryphon (2012)

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If I remember correctly, The Sword were among the first bands to get the dreaded “hipster metal” tag lobbed at them when they came seemingly out of nowhere back in 2006 with Age of Winters. I personally didn’t understand it; since when has ’70′s Sabbath flavored riff rock ever been considered “hip?” Do hipsters really listen to/like this stuff? The town I live in has a pretty sizeable hipster contingent, which is quite surprising for being centered smack dab in the asshole of the Midwest, but I have never once seen any of them at a metal or rock show, they’re too busy drinking coffee and listening to Bon Iver or some shit. Perhaps it had something to do with the way the band looked; Satan forbid someone make this music without sporting a navel-grazing billy goat beard and a denim vest that smells like a thirty-year-old beer fart. In reality, it was probably a combination of the hype surrounding the band and a pervasive media presence. Age of Winters was a competent if flawed album, but The Sword would continue to uh, sharpen their approach with 2008′s excellent Gods of the Earth, an album that (at least to these ears) was both heavier and catchier than what had come before. I somehow missed the quartet’s third album, the science-fiction concept album Warp Riders, but when Apocryphon was released earlier this year, I was ready to check back in with the band so many metalheads seemingly love to hate. Listening to Apocryphon, it seems somehow fitting that I (unintentionally) skipped Warp Riders, because this album sounds like the direct sequel to Gods of the Earth. It’s got a similar stoned-out vibe, similar big-ass riffs, but the production is better and the songwriting is more refined, sort of like how Evil Dead and Evil Dead II are essentially the same movie, but Evil Dead II takes everything that made the original great and improves upon it tenfold. Sometimes it isn’t necessary to fuck with the formula when you know you’ve got a good thing going, just modify and tweek it ever-so-slightly and let the fucking heads bang on. The thing I’ve always liked about The Sword is that every song sounds like they’re trying to write that elusive big hard rock/heavy metal anthem; there’s a sort of swaggering, down ‘n’ dirty majesty to their music that sets them apart from many bands caught up in the retro tidal wave, mixed with a hint of proto-doom, like if Fandango-era ZZ Top smoked the stickiest of the icky with Paranoid-era Tony Iommi and unleashed an epic riffing sesh. I don’t know about you, but I for one am down like a mole with the almost forty-five minutes of “Heard it on the X” meets “Hand of Doom”-style jams on display here. Indeed, Apocryphon sees The Sword perfecting that aforementioned formula, whether it be with the slow trudge of “The Hidden Masters” and “Seven Sisters,” riff-tastic opening one-two punch of “Veil of Isis” and “Cloak of Feathers” or the ultra-catchy “Eyes of the Stormwitch;” hipsters wouldn’t know what to do with such a prodigious fistful of rock. Apocryphon‘s production is a deftly executed balance of punchiness, fuzziness and heft. Credit must be given to J. Robbins, who is more renowned for producing hardcore/post-hardore/emo albums, for perfectly capturing The Sword’s polished gnarliness. It’s a very bright sounding album, but don’t equate brightness with a lack of heaviness. Apocryphon is plenty heavy, although the real emphasis here is on the righteous riffage. The Sword aren’t looking to crush, suffocate or overwhelm with their music; they’re a band that just wants to rock out and take your candy ass along for the ride. There’s a hell of a lot to be said for that kind of simplicity and purity of purpose. If you’re still convinced that The Sword are flagrant hipsters, Apocryphon isn’t going to do a damn thing to change your mind. Those with more open minds and an appreciation for early heavy metal, stoner rock and good ol’ fashioned hard rock on the other hand will find much to enjoy here; a startlingly memorable slab of retro radness done good and proper. If digging Apocryphon makes me a false, then I don’t want to be true.

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