The Sword

The Sword is an American heavy metal band that formed in Austin, Texas in 2003. After a strong performance at SXSW 2005, the band signed to New York-based label Kemado Records. Since then, The Sword has released two full-length studio albums: Age of Winters in 2006 and Gods of the Earth in 2008. In support of Age of Winters, the band toured in 2006 and 2007 with such support acts as Early Man, Priestess, Lacuna Coil and Trivium in the United States; Nebula and Clutch in Europe; and Lamb of God in Japan. "Freya" was covered and featured as a playable track on the video game Guitar Hero II and later released as a single In November 2007, the metal outfit released a split extended play with Swedish doom metal band Witchcraft; The Sword's contribution included a new track, "Sea of Spears", as well as a cover of English hard rock band Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" Gods of the Earth was much more of a collaborative writing effort than its predecessor, and provided the band with their first chart success when it reached number 102 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart. In support of the album, the band completed the Gods of the Earth Tour, supported by bands including Machine Head, Lamb of God and Clutch. The quartet also supported heavy metal veterans Metallica on their 2008 European Vacation Tour and returned as the opening act on a number of legs on their World Magnetic Tour, which continued through the opening months of 2009 until May. A two-disc box set containing Age of Winters and Gods of the Earth was released on November 25, 2008, and the song "The Black River" was included on the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica. The Sword's music was also featured in the 2009 films "Jennifer's Body" and "Horsemen."