The Sword’s brand new album, Gods of the Earth, debuts at #102 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in its first week of release.
Gods of the Earth also debuted at #1 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” chart, #1 on Billboard’s “New Artist” chart, and at #5 on Billboard’s “Tastemakers” chart. The follow up to the Austin, TX-based band`s 2006 debut, Age of Winters, Gods of the Earth was released via Kemado Records and has met to scads of critical acclaim in the weeks leading up to its April 1 release.
On the heels of the band’s Billboard debut, The Sword has announced summer, 2008 tour dates with the legendary Metallica. The influential metal band has called The Sword, “one of our favorite bands of the last few years,” (source: Metallica.com) and hand-picked the explosive quartet to open for it on a slew of European live dates, beginning July 16 in Bergen, Norway. Joining Metallica and The Sword on the tour will be New Orleans’ Down.
The Sword’s brand new music video – for the powerhouse track “Maiden, Mother & Crone” – also makes its world premiere today via MTV2’s “Headbangers Blog”. The magnetic clip was directed by Artificial Army (The Mars Volta, Coheed and Cambria) and can be viewed now at this location. The “Maiden, Mother & Crone” video will see its world television premiere this Saturday, April 12 as part of the network’s long-running “Headbangers Ball” program.
Additionally, The Sword will perform as one of the featured artists of the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival, set to take place June 12 -15 in Manchester, TN. Known for showcasing “some of the best performers in rock and roll, along with dozens of artists in complementary styles,” Bonnaroo 2008 will see The Sword perform alongside Metallica, Sigur Ros, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Raconteurs, M.I.A., Willie Nelson, and more. A full listing of upcoming The Sword live dates follows this message.
The Sword features guitarist/vocalist J.D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie, and drummer Trivett Wingo.
For a list of previously announced The Sword dates, click here.
Metallica/Down/The Sword Dates
July 16: Bergen, Norway – Koengen
July 18: St. Petersburg -Russia - SKK Hall
July 20: Riga, Latvia - Skonto Stadium
July 22: Bologna, Italy -Parco Nord
July 23: Bucharest, Romania Cotroceni (no Down)
July 25: Sofia, Bulgaria -Vasil Levski Stadium
Definitely one the best metal releases in a while. Glad to see it is getting some of the recognition it deserves.
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