Since way back in the murky mists of 2003, The Sword have been laying down some of the meatiest riffs on the metal scene. Sometimes criticised for leaning a little too heavily on their Black Sabbath influences in the past, and arguably never reaching the same kind of peaks in notoriety as their contemporaries, 2015 sees them armed with plenty of new licks from new album High Country. But how does their new direction translate live?
Opening tonight are London’s own Hang The Bastard, and it’s a testament to the local hero’s fan following that they summon a pretty respectable crowd for this early on a Friday night. They sound absolutely huge, their tone truly towering. Simon Grubb is a ball of frantic energy behind the kit, and his cymbals are some of the most satisfyingly splashy we’ve ever heard. They lay down blues-and-booze soaked riffs, and vocalist Tomas Hubbard is a sweating, vest-clad heart throb, reeling off venomous screams that are sadly robbed of some of their potency by an unfriendly mix. Still, the ‘Bastards put on one hell of a show.
The Sword come on without much fanfare, receiving a warm London welcome. They proceed to throw down their usual brand of spacey, southern riffing with impressive technical ability, turning on a dime and shooting out effortless guitar harmonies. They are locked in dead tight, especially the rhythm section of bassist Bryan Richie (who adds some excellent swirling textures with his foot keyboard) and drummer Santiago Vela.
Frontman J. D. Cronise is cool as a cucumber throughout, his trademark laid back drawl lifting over the music enough to be heard, but not too much as to be overpowering. Kyle Shutt lays down some proficient wailing solos, but they sometimes fail to stir the heart as a solo should. This is symptomatic of a bigger issue affecting their performance – a curious, persistent sense of disconnect. Their newer tracks are merely ‘fine’, occasionally drifting into ‘good’ territory, and their older material like ‘Tres Brujas’ and ‘The Horned Goddess’ seem like more of a fan service, sounding as good as they do on record, but lacking that something extra you expect from a live performance.
While you’d be loathe to call tonight’s show ‘boring’, there’s a stiffness, like the four piece are just ‘going through the motions’, a lack of real showmanship and a clinical execution. While the riffs are still righteous, there’s an unfortunate and unshakable disappointment otherwise.
