First ever concept album from Texan metal monsters The Sword, which, as you might guess from the cover, draws its cosmic inspiration from old bargain bin sci-fi novels and creased issues of Heavy Metal magazine. Warp Riders, then, is a conscious thematic shift for the band, which has set its lyrical sights this time on the great beyond, tackling planetary forces of good and evil instead of the more earthly doom and gloom of battle axes and black magic. The narrative, in brief, is about Ereth, an archer who has been banished from his tribe on the planet Acheron, which is stuck in a tidal lock, meaning that half of it is shrouded in darkness while the other half is burnt by the heat of three different suns. Got it? Good. Warp Riders is also a bit of a musical departure for The Sword as well, who have surround their space-world narrative with some freak-fried, 70s-infused boogie doom, and the whole thing kind of sounds like Witchcraft and Year Long Disaster gigging biker bars on Mars. Dig the thick, red rock n’ roll on “Tres Brujas,” “Lawless Lands,” “Night City,” and “(The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fire” for the best examples. But listen, the faithful needn’t worry because The Sword haven’t completely abandoned their head-banging aesthetics; they’ve just fused some asteroid-splitting riffs with their old pro stoner thrashing for a massively dope ride through the outermost limits. And it really is some awesome stuff.
This isn’t so much an album as it is a full-length concert movie with soundtrack. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to track down the DVD (their online store only accepts credit cards and I don’t have one, which is great for staying out of debt but shitty for instances like this), so I haven’t actually seen the film, which apparently consists of live footage and “vignettes that abstractly depict themes of corruption, destruction, and rebirth” while the band “portrays the Three Kings who are the silent watchers of their world.” Seems pretty groovy at any rate, which is Dead Meadow’s specialty, and the soundtrack certainly delivers in that respect. A mixture of old, live songs and new studio recordings, Three Kings is a psychedelic time warp of fuzzy, exotic, Zeppelin-esque boogie that bends and shines like a rainbow in a dope fiend’s mind. Stand-outs for me include the new song “That Old Temple” and the old classics “Seven Seers” and “Beyond the Fields We Know,” the album’s longest running, free-flowing, freak out jam. It might be a bit of a weird one for newcomers, but long-standing Deadheads (or maybe is should be Meadowheads) will surely dig this hazy collection.
Check out the video for “That Old Temple” from the Three Kings movie!
As you might be able to glean from the album’s title and simple black cover, this is Josiah’s swan song, and as such it kicks off with the title track, a real slow cooker with a dopey swagger, like they’re taking that last, glorious walk out of the Holy Halls of Smoke into the fading, waiting horizon. Of course, that’s exactly what the UK trio is doing after 10 years of dedicated stoner rock service, but not intent to linger like a bunch of lazy losers, they punch it hard on “Broken Doll” and “Thirteen Scene” with the kind of groove n’ roll that ought to leave a deep, lasting impression, like getting punched in the chest by a sasquatch. Then it’s a return to theme with the next two songs, “Dying Day” and “Dead Forever,” and it really hits home that these mere mortal men are Gods when it comes to laying down boogie-fried, witchy, 70s riffs, and it sure is a shame it has to stop. They wrap up the rest of the album with a handful of killer live tracks recorded in Sweden in ’07, including “Looking at the Mountain,” “Time to Kill,” “Silas Brainchild,” “I Can’t Seem to Find It” (all from 2007′s No Time), and “Malpaso” (from 2000′s Out of the First Rays and 2002′s Josiah). Singer/guitarist Mat Bethancourt will no doubt continue on with Cherry Choke and Kings of Frog Island, and I can only believe that bassist/vocalist Sie Beasley and drummer Keith Beacom will turn out all right too, if they haven’t already. Play this one loud, brothers and sisters. So long, Josiah.
The Sword
Dead Meadow
Josiah