Review SWORD ‘III’

Sword, that means heavy metal from the French-speaking part of Canada. The band released two albums in the late 80s, of which especially the debut ‘Metalized’ made a strong impression. However, Sword did not manage to turn this good start into further triumphs and so the band members parted ways in 1995.

As with many bands, a few live shows in 2011 brought the quartet closer together again and a performance at the 2012 Keep It True Festival in Germany strengthened the newly blossoming passion for metal.

With ‘III’, Sword released their third album these days and one could be curious what to expect after more than three decades. It is already obvious with the opener ‘Bad Blood’ that US metal continues to awaken the flame of passion in the guys. In addition, traditional metal is high on their agenda, which comes to the fore in a somewhat interlaced way on ‘Bad Blood’. After listening to the opener, I had a few doubts, as the song just doesn’t want to spark properly. This works out much better with the snappy riff storm called ‘(I am) Kommand’ and the grooving ‘Dirty Pig’.

With ‘Surfacing’ the band has put a short interlude on the record, before gritty riffs set the tone again on ‘Unleashing Hell’. Then comes ‘Spread Pain’, a thunderous metal stomper reminiscent of the band’s 80s days. And that the band members adore Dio becomes evident with ‘Took My Chances’.

‘III’ is like a little time travel. One feels transported back to the heydays and it is this nostalgic feeling that makes listening to the record a pleasant pastime. However, this also means that Sword doesn’t bring much new to light and considering that the song ideas are from the first era, this is not surprising.

Overall, it can be said that the album has become a good one, which has no real weak spots, but doesn’t really want to stand out either.