The Sword: Gods Of The Earth

For all intents and purposes, The Sword's Gods

Of The Earth is

the exact same album as its predecessor, Age Of Winters. That isn't a good thing.

Like the group's debut, Gods sounds like a botched retelling of a bad joke

about heavy metal. Every moldy riff can be smelled from miles away, and each

battleaxe-and-wizard-littered image is lifted wholesale from the side of a '70s

custom van. Of course, there's a thin line between having fun and poking

fun—but it's never clear where The Sword is coming from. Sadly, it seems

likely that these guys take what they do seriously. When did mythic quests and

thunderous battles become so quotidian and inconsequential How can cranking

everything to 11 produce such a whimper With metal-scavenging bands like Big

Business and Saviours currently stalking the earth with far more brute force

and riff-wielding instinct, The Sword feels dull. In spite of a few points for

basic competency—the band deserves at least a little credit for figuring out

how to hold their guitars with the strings facing the right way—Age Of

Winters comes

off as the soundtrack to a particularly lame tactical RPG. Final Fantasy If only.