IN REVIEW: The Sword - "Low Country"

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Only a decade ago one of the flagbearers of the new wave of stoner metal, The Sword went through a bunch of changes before ending up in their classic rock phase with last year's High Country; so, I guess it only makes sense that they'd give those songs the acoustic treatment, which is why Low Country exists. The thing is, there were only a handful of memorable tracks on High Country, and giving the filler tracks the old wood-n'-strings treatment doesn't exactly do them any favours here. With nothing improved upon and everything painted with the same beige brush, Low Country isn't likely to appeal to many. Personally, if they insisted on doing an acoustic record, I'd have preferred a career spanning collection, because I'm more interested to hear what they could do with older material like Freya, Maiden, Mother & Crone or Tres Brujas. As it stands, Low Country is simply a dulled down companion piece to their most dulled down record.

September 23, 2016 • Razor & Tie
Highlights High Country • Seriously Mysterious • Early Snow

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