In the apocalyptic (and wordy) “Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians,” Sabbathian Austin quartet the Sword seem to onto something heavier than the sci-fi lyrics suggest. A sampling: “We’ve crossed the burning wasteland / Sought out forgotten tombs / within this shattered planet / beneath a broken moon.” And later, “We seek the fire lances / that slew the ancient race / the world where they were masters / now lays in waste.” The ambitious video for the track follows suit, opening with historical war images (marches, air strikes, mushroom clouds) before fading into an animated Road Warriors land, complete with gas masks, volcanoes, a torn map, a stag with burning antlers, and a bloody, treacherous ending. There’s also an abacus, but pay it no mind.

The song’s the first single from the band’s second full-length, Gods Of The Earth. If you want, you can also take “Fire Lances” on a walk.

Gods Of The Earth is out 4/1 on Kemado.

Comments (17)
  1. Larry Dickman  |   Posted on Mar 19th, 2008 0

    I’m at work in my cubicle right now and that song just made me do the Nicolas Cage Wild At Heart dance. Love it.

  2. Heckuva title there. New Sword is always a good thing.

  3. Samantha  |   Posted on Mar 19th, 2008 0

    sick effects. i really like the look of it

  4. Wednesday: New Sword.
    Thursday: Marduk?!

  5. Iron Swan part II

  6. Zachra  |   Posted on Mar 19th, 2008 0

    Looks like the 80′s Lord of the Rings “animated” film.

    Sounds like another fantastic effort by The Sword.

  7. Finally, something worth my time!

  8. God, I love this band. This video/song is terrific, as is GODS OF THE EARTH on the whole.

  9. Ralph Bakshi from the animated LOTR movie (1977) called he wants he idea back!

    The Sword definately is MTVs answer to High On Fire.

    Still anything is better than that Kid-Korn Biscuit shit

  10. daniel walters  |   Posted on Mar 21st, 2008 0

    FUCK YES love that style- wish these dudes would come to Minneapolis and shred some shit!!!

  11. crackheadman1  |   Posted on Mar 22nd, 2008 0

    bobcat is wrong. These guys aren’t even remotely close to any shit you see on MTV

    They are a good metal band that is helping to bring back sludge metal

  12. Craig  |   Posted on Mar 23rd, 2008 0

    Lame band , lame video. The “singer” is terrible. This video is very uncreative and meaningless. The Sword wants to be High On Fire. Weak.

  13. Alex  |   Posted on Mar 24th, 2008 0

    looks super cheap and not in a good way. Lets see how many after effects plugins we can use? lol

  14. mike  |   Posted on Mar 28th, 2008 0

    to craig and alex,
    If you think this band wants to be anything like Crap on Fire, your not only dumb, your retarted. Go back and listen to your Hinder and Chevell tapes and cry for more of that gross ass Nu Metal shit. It’s a good thing you don’t like them because people like you don’t understand shit about music.

  15. pk  |   Posted on Apr 9th, 2008 0

    If you like metal and don’t like this band, you don’t like metal. Or you are 12. Can’t wait to see these guys live.

  16. backstabbeth  |   Posted on Apr 14th, 2008 0

    To those who commented how these guys want to be high on fire. They havent done a damn thing worth listening to since art of self defense. These guys are much more talented than High on Fire, especially since mat pikes solos are all the same (twiddlw twiddle twiddle twiddle twiddle) dont get me wrong I like High on Fire, but these guys are more like Sleep than anything. I actually refer to thier style as “Sleep done Right”

    Besides you cant argue with killer riffs.

  17. DrFreemanstein  |   Posted on May 11th, 2008 0

    pk wrote: if you like metal and don’t like this band, you don’t like metal. Or you are 12. Can’t wait to see these guys live.

    bobcat wrote: Still anything is better than that Kid-Korn Biscuit shit

    pk….your comment makes no sense! Metal has developed many different flavours and facets since it’s inception in the 80′s, personally I like bands like Maiden and Sabbath…but this belongs to a more recent facet of metal that i personally don’t really get on with! And I am old enough and British enough to remember what metal (in it’s purest core) was all about when it began!

    as for you bobcat! I agree completely about Kid-Rock and Limp Bizkit! They kinda gold real old real quick, but Korn!? C’mon! What’s not to like about Korn???

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