The Sword are preparing two extensive career-spanning compilations for a June 05th release on Craft Recordings. “Conquest Of Kingdoms” will compile 30 tracks as a three-vinyl set which will feature covers, b-sides, live recordings and more. 16 songs featured on it are previously unreleased.
Meanwhile, “Chronology 2006-2018” will arrive on three-discs. Along with much of the content from the aforementioned rarities set, it will also sport some of the band’s biggest songs and fan favorites. Of the included 52 tracks, 12 are previously unreleased.
New liner notes contributions penned by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich (who previously invited The Sword to tour with Metallica), Lamb Of God guitarist Mark Morton and Clutch frontman Neil Fallon will also appear on this set. Excerpts from the latter can be found below:
Lars Ulrich:
“The Sword blew my mind. The best music always sounds like it threads through, and is part of, some sort of lineage, some sort of continuity, some sort of history, but always with its own additional X factor… For me, they were one of the few with that aforementioned additional X factor, so we should absolutely celebrate their inspirational music.”
Mark Morton:
“The Sword was a band I had been waiting for… a band that I wished I was in… a heavy blues, acid rock, psychedelic, intergalactic riff paradise. In my estimation, The Sword was the perfect blend of Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Sleep and Clutch… somehow familiar yet incredibly fresh at the same time.”
Neil Fallon:
“The phrase ‘world building’ is usually reserved for science fiction and fantasy. But I think you could apply it to The Sword as well. The lyrics and music capture the spirit of what first attracted me to heavy metal, namely, the escapism. There’s only a handful of bands that do this convincingly, and The Sword is one of them.”
As for the band’s decision to release these collections now, bassist/keyboardist Bryan Richie commented:
“We’ve got all these exclusive 7”s and a split record or two, that were pressed in 1,000 quantities — maybe people heard those tracks on a YouTube stream in not really the greatest quality.
As the band had gone on hiatus, we had this wealth of material to share including live sets — things that were sitting on my hard drive for years, things that were given to me at shows. It seemed like the right time.”
Frontman/guitarist John D. Cronise added:
“The CD package will be more of a career retrospective with selections from each of our albums as well as the rarities and B-sides and things. Sort of a mini box set, you could say. The set will include a booklet with essays and photos, to make it special and extra.
Whereas the LP release [‘Conquest of Kingdoms‘] is more streamlined, with just the B-side and rarities material. Personally for me, that’s what’s exciting about the releases. A lot of that stuff I never thought would see the light of day but I always thought was really cool and was proud of.”
The track listings for the releases run as follows
“Conquest Of Kingdoms” (digital):
01 – “The Horned Goddess” (live) (previously unreleased)
02 – “Barael’s Blade” (live) (previously unreleased)
03 – “Lament For The Aurochs” (live) (previously unreleased)
04 – “Iron Swan” (live) (previously unreleased)
05 – “The Sundering” (live) (previously unreleased)
06 – “Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians” (live) (previously unreleased)
07 – “The Black River” (live) (previously unreleased)
08 – “The White Sea” (live) (previously unreleased)
09 – “Sea Of Spears” (live) (previously unreleased)
10 – “Freya” (live) (previously unreleased)
11 – “Night City” (live) (previously unreleased)
12 – “The Chronomancer II: Nemesis” (live)
13 – “He’s Waiting” (C Average Version)
14 – “Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings”
15 – “Freya ‘08” (previously unreleased)
16 – “Forever My Queen” Pentagram cover) (previously unreleased)
17 – “She” (Kiss cover) (previously unreleased)
18 – “Daughter Of Dawn”
19 – “Farstar”
20 – “Cheap Sunglasses” (ZZ Top cover)
21 – “Hammer Of Heaven”
22 – “Hexenringe”
23 – “Seriously Mysterious (Level One Remix)” (previously unreleased)
24 – “John The Revelator” (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
25 – “Turnt To Dust”
26 – “Serpent Weather ”
“Conquest Of Kingdoms” (vinyl):
Side A:
01 – “The Horned Goddess” (live) (previously unreleased)
02 – “Barael’s Blade” (live) (previously unreleased)
03 – “Lament For The Aurochs” (live) (previously unreleased)
04 – “Iron Swan” (live) (previously unreleased)
Side B:
01 – “The Sundering” (live) (previously unreleased)
02 – “Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians” (live) (previously unreleased)
03 – “The Black River” (live) (previously unreleased)
04 – “The White Sea” (live) (previously unreleased)
Side C:
01 – “Sea Of Spears” (live) (previously unreleased)
02 – “Freya” (live) (previously unreleased)
03 – “Night City” (live) (previously unreleased)
04 – “The Chronomancer II: Nemesis” (live)
Side D:
01 – “He’s Waiting” (C Average Version)
02 – “Sea Of Spears”
03 – “Immigrant Song” (Led Zeppelin cover)
04 – “Nasty Dogs And Funky Kings” (ZZ Top cover)
05 – “Codex Corvidae”
06 – “Freya ‘08“*
Side E:
01 – “Forever My Queen” (Pentagram cover) (previously unreleased)
02 – “She” (Kiss cover) (previously unreleased)
03 – “Daughter Of Dawn”
04 – “Farstar”
05 – “Cold Sweat” (Thin Lizzy cover)
06 – “Cheap Sunglasses” (ZZ Top cover)
Side F:
01 – “Hammer Of Heaven”
02 – “Hexenringe”
03 – “Seriously Mysterious” (Level One Remix) (previously unreleased)
04 – “John The Revelator” (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
05 – “Turnt To Dust“*
06 – “Serpent Weather”
“Chronology 2006 – 2018“:
Disc 1:
01 – “Freya”
02 – “Winter’s Wolves”
03 – “The Horned Goddess”
04 – “Iron Swan”
05 – “How Heavy This Axe”
06 – “Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians”
07 – “Maiden, Mother & Crone”
08 – “The Black River”
09 – “Acheron/Unearthing The Orb”
10 – “Lawless Lands”
11 – “The Warp Riders”
12 – “(The Night the Sky Cried) Tears Of Fire”
13 – “The Horned Goddess” (live) (previously unreleased)
14 – “Barael’s Blade” (live) (previously unreleased)
15 – “Lament for the Aurochs” (live) (previously unreleased)
16 – “Iron Swan” (live) (previously unreleased)
Disc 2:
01 – “Cloak Of Feathers”
02 – “Dying Earth”
03 – “Seven Sisters”
04 – “Apocryphon”
05 – “Empty Temples”
06 – “Mist & Shadow”
07 – “Early Snow”
08 – “The Dreamthieves”
09 – “Seriously Mysterious” (acoustic)
10 – “Buzzards” (acoustic)
11 – “Deadly Nightshade”
12 – “Sea Of Green”
13 – “Used Future”
14 – “Come And Gone”
15 – “Sea Of Spears” (live) (previously unreleased)
16 – “Freya” (live) (previously unreleased)
17 – “Night City” (live) (previously unreleased)
18 – “The Chronomancer II: Nemesis” (live)
Disc 3:
01 – “He’s Waiting” (C Average Version)
02 – “Sea Of Spears”
03 – “Immigrant Song” (Led Zeppelin cover)
04 – “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings” (ZZ Top cover)
05 – “Codex Corvidae”
06 – “Freya ’08” (previously unreleased)
07 – “Forever My Queen” (Pentagram cover) (previously unreleased)
08 – “She” (Kiss cover) (previously unreleased)
09 – “Daughter Of Dawn”
10 – “Farstar”
11 – “Cold Sweat” (Thin Lizzy cover)
12 – “Cheap Sunglasses” (ZZ Top cover)
13 – “Hammer Of Heaven”
14 – “Hexenringe”
15 – “Seriously Mysterious” (Level One Remix) (previously unreleased)
16 – “John The Revelator” (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
17 – “Turnt To Dust” (previously unreleased)
18 – “Serpent Weather”
Pre-orders for both releases can be found here. The included previously unreleased live audio of “Freya“, which was recorded during a 2011 show at Stubbs in Austin, TX, can be found below.
The Sword went on hiatus in late 2018 with their guitarist Kyle Shutt sharing a bleak assessment on their fan reception at the time. They announced their return earlier this year with the below tours with Primus and King Buffalo booked to serve as their reintroduction.
With Primus (performing Rush‘s “A Farewell To Kings“) and Wolfmother:
05/26 Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory (tickets)
05/27 Houston, TX – Revention Music Center (tickets)
05/29 Austin, TX – ACL Live at the Moody Theater (tickets)
05/30 New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theater (tickets)
06/01 Asheville, NC – ExploreAsheville.com Arena (tickets)
06/03 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live Orlando (tickets)
06/05 Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy (tickets)
06/06 Charlotte, NC – Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre (tickets)
06/07 Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater (tickets)
06/09 Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavilion (tickets)
06/10 Columbus, OH – Express Live! – Outdoor (tickets)
06/12 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival (tickets)
06/15 Richmond, VA – Virginia Credit Union LIVE!
06/16 Baltimore, MD – MECU Pavilion (tickets)
06/17 New York, NY – Beacon Theatre (tickets)
06/19 Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia (tickets)
06/20 Asbury Park, NJ – The Stone Pony Summer Stage (tickets)
06/21 Essex Junction, VT – Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Exposition (tickets)
06/23 Boston, MA – Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion (tickets)
06/24 Wallingford, CT – Toyota Oakdale Theatre (tickets)
06/26 Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill (tickets)
06/27 Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica (tickets)
06/28 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE – Outdoor (tickets)
06/30 Toronto, ON – RBC Echo Beach (tickets)
With King Buffalo:
06/02 Birmingham, AL – Zydeco (no King Buffalo)
06/04 Tampa, FL – Orpheum (no King Buffalo)
06/11 Grand Rapids, MI – Elevation
06/12 Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
06/13 Indianapolis, IN – Vogue
06/25 Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place
07/01 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
07/02 St. Louis, MO – Ready Room (no King Buffalo)
07/03 Oklahoma City, OK – 89th Street (no King Buffalo)
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