by James Christopher Monger

This two-fer from Sabbath-worshipping, Austin, TX-based doom metal outfit the Sword features the band's first two albums, Age of Winters (2006) and Gods of the Earth (2007). Age of Winters is the more solid of the two, boasting a nice balance between impossibly heavy and highly melodic, while Gods of the Earth suffers from overly dense, meandering set pieces that sound momentously heavy, yet half-finished.