Why do I buy this stuff?
Bad recording. A few tracks hit hard. But the album does not live out to its potential. If you picked up an instrument today... 3 years later you could sound like this!

Not even Timbaland could save this album.

Very good, but falls a little short of Age of Winters
First off, The Sword is a fantastic band. J.D. Cronise has one of the best metal voices in music today - it's dark and foreboding, without senseless grumbling. You actually can hear what he sings. The rest of the band is fantastic as well. The guitar riffs are thick, heavy, groovy, and very Sabbath-influenced. The acoustic guitar pieces are also amazing. My only complaint is that the riffs on this album are missing some of the groove and catchiness of Age of Winters. The tracks seem a little slower, and less energetic. Still, if you want great, classic-style heavy metal, it's worth buying.

Muffled production and bad vocals, one to avoid
I'm afraid I will have to be one of the few dissenters among the reviewers here. This was recommended for me as good, hard metal but without endless screaming, ultra-fast tempos or overbearing double-bass drums. At least those parts are right.

The two problems with this album come down to how hard it is to believe it was released in 2008. The sound quality is simply not there.

First problem: The guitars are muddled, completely lacking any crispness or dynamic range. It sounds like they were recorded through a big wad of cotton. That's a shame, because the riffs are generally pretty good.

Second problem: The vocals are truly, honestly, downright awful. He sounds like Ozzy when he was at his alcohol-stripped worst, although a good bit deeper; and yet he still comes off sounding reedy and stretched. Why do they keep this guy? I'm almost afraid to write this given what I just wrote, but the lead vocals are mixed down a little too much also.

So we're left with a pretty decent metal album crying out for proper production quality, dynamic range, and a better lead singer. Skip this one, there's much better out there.

5 Stars? Come on.....
There is absolutely no reason this album warrants 5-stars. That is, unless you're totally new to the 'stoner rock' music scene and believe that Green Day is also the epitome of Punk Rock. The Sword do to metal what Green Day did for punk rock in 94 except that Green Day actually paid their dues for a few years before they became teenage poster darlings.

The Sword don't bring anything new to the table. Their live show is probably one of the most boring live acts I've seen in years and they certainly don't blow anyone away on their sophomore release. Granted it's a notch above the High On Fire worship of Age Of Winters but now these Austin-Indie kids want to show you they're reaaaally metal and can harmonize with their neat Orange amps and sparkle Ludwig drums. With no more money to be made in post-punk, the hipsters set their eyes to the always burgeoning world of metal.

No 5 star review here but I'm sure Jane Magazine will say:

"Wow, neat! It sounds like Black Sabbath but the band members are all cute so check out , gals!"

The true gods of the earth
This album rocks! I love how loud the guitars are and the drums are also amazing, they mix well with the music and soungs, the vocals are also pretty good, i like how they mix with the actuel music. If you are one the many people out there how like good metle get this album now!