After six albums in just shy of two decades of music-making, Austin, TX-founded heavies the Sword have announced their breakup.
In a statement, found below, vocalist-rhythm guitarist John D. Cronise writes, "After much contemplation, I have reached the difficult conclusion that it's time to bring the Sword's long and storied career to a close."
"When I started the band back in 2004, I could've only hoped for the successes we've enjoyed, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to do it for a living for almost two decades," he continued. "In that time everything I ever wanted to say and do with the Sword creatively has been said and done, and
so the time has come for me to move on to other endeavours."
Cronise continued to thank listeners and those who worked with the Sword in all corners of the music industry, including tour managers, technicians, merch dealers, promoters, engineers, producers, labels and "all the bands who've taken us on tour and to all the bands we've taken on tour."
He concluded, "And most of all thanks to my bandmates, [guitarist Kyle Shutt], [bassist-keyboardist Bryan Richie], [drummer Santiago "Jimmy" Vela III], and [ex-drummer Trivett Wingo], for having faith in me and allowing me to realize my vision. You dudes are true legends. It's been a helluva journey. Now it's time for the next chapter..."
Founded by Cronise, Shutt and Wingo, the Sword made their debut in 2006 with Age of Winters, on which Exclaim! found that the "droning quartet have done so much more with the blues-metal influence of Black Sabbath's heyday than turning it into black light poster fodder ... developing a solid penchant for head-banging riffs that bands like Cathedral are still trying to cop and Mastodon are too aggressive to lay back and feel."
Second LP Gods of the Earth would arrive in 2008, and was followed by Warp Riders in 2010, the latter album centred around an original science fiction narrative authored by Cronise. It would also mark the Sword's last recording with drummer Wingo, who would leave the band ahead of releasing 2012's Apocryphon.
Fifth album High Country arrived in 2015, and was stripped down for acoustic companion Low Country in 2016. Sixth and final album Used Future saw release in 2018, while the Sword announced a hiatus soon afterward.
In a statement, found below, vocalist-rhythm guitarist John D. Cronise writes, "After much contemplation, I have reached the difficult conclusion that it's time to bring the Sword's long and storied career to a close."
"When I started the band back in 2004, I could've only hoped for the successes we've enjoyed, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to do it for a living for almost two decades," he continued. "In that time everything I ever wanted to say and do with the Sword creatively has been said and done, and
so the time has come for me to move on to other endeavours."
Cronise continued to thank listeners and those who worked with the Sword in all corners of the music industry, including tour managers, technicians, merch dealers, promoters, engineers, producers, labels and "all the bands who've taken us on tour and to all the bands we've taken on tour."
He concluded, "And most of all thanks to my bandmates, [guitarist Kyle Shutt], [bassist-keyboardist Bryan Richie], [drummer Santiago "Jimmy" Vela III], and [ex-drummer Trivett Wingo], for having faith in me and allowing me to realize my vision. You dudes are true legends. It's been a helluva journey. Now it's time for the next chapter..."
Founded by Cronise, Shutt and Wingo, the Sword made their debut in 2006 with Age of Winters, on which Exclaim! found that the "droning quartet have done so much more with the blues-metal influence of Black Sabbath's heyday than turning it into black light poster fodder ... developing a solid penchant for head-banging riffs that bands like Cathedral are still trying to cop and Mastodon are too aggressive to lay back and feel."
Second LP Gods of the Earth would arrive in 2008, and was followed by Warp Riders in 2010, the latter album centred around an original science fiction narrative authored by Cronise. It would also mark the Sword's last recording with drummer Wingo, who would leave the band ahead of releasing 2012's Apocryphon.
Fifth album High Country arrived in 2015, and was stripped down for acoustic companion Low Country in 2016. Sixth and final album Used Future saw release in 2018, while the Sword announced a hiatus soon afterward.
