The Sword new album details

17 August 2010 | 5:30 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Austin, Texas metal band The Sword are aiming for the stars with their third full-length album by announcing that it will be a ‘concept album’ based on science fiction. Titled “Warp Riders”, the new album reportedly follows an interplanetary science fiction narrative that deals with temporal themes of death and rebirth (sounds trippy ey?) The Sword guitarist/vocalist John "J. D." Cronise recently elaborated on details of the album during an interview with Decibel magazine. "This is what you'd technically call a 'concept album,' though I'd describe it as more of a soundtrack to a story I came up with. All the songs are about aspects of the story, but they don't cover every detail from beginning to end. It's a science fiction story, and it deals heavily with themes of light and dark and perceptions of time. One of the main settings is a planet, which has experienced tidal locking, creating a side of perpetual day and a side of perpetual night. The reason for creating a narrative to...

Austin, Texas metal band The Sword are aiming for the stars with their third full-length album by announcing that it will be a ‘concept album’ based on science fiction.

Titled Warp Riders, the new album reportedly follows an interplanetary science fiction narrative that deals with temporal themes of death and rebirth (sounds trippy ey?)

The Sword guitarist/vocalist John "J. D." Cronise recently elaborated on details of the album during an interview with Decibel magazine.

"This is what you'd technically call a 'concept album,' though I'd describe it as more of a soundtrack to a story I came up with. All the songs are about aspects of the story, but they don't cover every detail from beginning to end. It's a science fiction story, and it deals heavily with themes of light and dark and perceptions of time. One of the main settings is a planet, which has experienced tidal locking, creating a side of perpetual day and a side of perpetual night. The reason for creating a narrative to base the songs around was essentially to provide interesting and varied lyrical subject matter with a core theme to tie it all together," Cronise told Decibel.

Cronise also told Noisecreep that Warp Riders will encompass a more hard rock sound while still appealing to a heavy metal demographic. "If more people listen that's great, but we're not doing it for that reason," he said. "We are just more interested in expanding our sound for ourselves. If we wanted to expand our audience we should just remake the second album over again, rather than challenge people with something new," he said.

The new album is scheduled for release on August 24 via Kemado Records. It was produced by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, ISIS), which marks the first time the band has worked with an outside producer.

An EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for Warp Riders can be viewed here.

The Sword will play Soundwave Festival 2011.