After nearly 20 years, The Sword is breaking up. Founding singer-guitarist John D. Cronise took to social media on Thursday to announce that the stoner metal band was calling it quits.
“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 wrote. ” 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 endeavors.”
Since emerging from Austin in 2004, in part thanks to a critically praised set at SXSW, The Sword has climbed the ranks of the metal ladder. Over the course of six studio albums, the band charted its growth from a doom metal band that begged comparison to Black Sabbath to a catchier, more unique stoner metal/hard rock sound. Along the way, the band released 2010’s Warp Riders, a concept album based on an original science fiction narrative. The group’s last studio album, Used Future, arrived in 2018.
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Shortly after Used Future charted at 104 on the Billboard 200, the band’s lowest since its 2006 debut Age of Winters failed to chart, the band announced a hiatus. When Primus detailed plans for its perpetually postponed and exhaustingly extended A Tribute To Kings Tour in 2020, the alt-metal innovators tapped The Sword to open on select dates, signaling the band’s return. That same year, the band released a pair of compilations, Consquest of Kingdoms and Chronology: 2006–2018.
“Thanks to everyone who’s ever come to a show, bought our albums and merch, and supported us over the years,” Cronise concluded. “Thanks to everyone who’s teched, tour managed, done sound, or sold merch for us. Thanks to all the bands who’ve taken us on tour and to all the bands we’ve taken on tour. Thanks to the promotors and venues who booked us and let us play. Thanks to the producers and recording engineers who worked on our albums and to the labels that released them. …And most of all thanks to my bandmates, Kyle, Bryan, Jimmy, and Trivett, for having faith in me and allowing me to realize my vision. You dudes are true legends.”
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