The Sword's Band Members
The Sword's Band Members
After writing and recording music on his own for "a few years", vocalist and guitarist John "J. D." Cronise formed The Sword in 2003 with guitarist Kyle Shutt and drummer Trivett Wingo. The trio released its first demo, entitled Age of Winters, before the end of the year, and in early 2004 bassist Bryan Richie joined to complete the four-piece lineup of the band. Prior to the formation of The Sword, Cronise and Wingo had performed together in the group Ultimate Dragons, based in Richmond, Virginia, while Shutt and Richie had worked with multiple bands in Texas "united by a love of Led Zeppelin". Cronise had also performed with a local band called Those Peabodys, but left as he felt he "needed to do something heavier". After their first live performance together in Austin on March 18, 2004, the band released their second demo, The Sword, which was followed the next year by an extended play (EP) entitled Freya. After performing at the 2005 South by Southwest festival, the band was signed by New York-based record label Kemado Records.
The Sword released its debut album Age of Winters in February 2006, for which much of the material had been written by Cronise before the band's formation and featured on the band's early demos. In support of the album the band toured throughout 2006 and 2007, with support acts including Lacuna Coil and Trivium in the United States, Nebula and Clutch in Europe, and Lamb of God in Japan.[ In November 2006 a cover version of the song "Freya" was featured as a playable track on the video game Guitar Hero II, and the original track was later released as the band's first single in September 2007. Age of Winters did not chart, but received widely positive reviews from critics including, AllMusic writer Eduardo Rivadavia who described the album as "remarkably well-balanced and almost suspiciously immediate".
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