The Sword w/ Big Business and O’ Brother at Mill City Nights, Minneapolis (9 March 2014) concert review

The Sword Setlist

Big Business Setlist

O’Brother US Tour Dates

There may be varieties that are more bitter, more dark, and more flavorful, but it’s all still beer. As the Panzer Tank of a tour that is The Sword, Big Business, and O’ Brother rolled into Minneapolis recently for a show at Mill City Nights, the feeling was similar- a varied palette of sounds, but all cut from a similar hard rock/metal foundation.

Between the heavier, stretched out songs like ‘Disillusion’ and ‘Oblivion’ and the band’s purposely minimal lighting (almost total darkness, save a small light near the bass drum), the band suitably built a mood and presence that fit the tone of their music. Led by Tanner Merritt, there is an overlying darkness and intensity to their songs, and a thick groove coating it all—consider them the “Stout” of the evening.

Seattle’s Big Business, formed in 2004 by Karp bassist Jared Warren and Murder City Devils drummer Coady Willis followed with a down-to-business 35 min. set with a deep bottom end. In support of their latest, 2013’s Battlefields Forever (Gold Metal Records), the trio (now including 400 Blows guitarist Scott Martin) plowed through with a headlong fierceness that had heads in the crowd violently nodding.

Playing the new album in its entirety was somewhat risky as well, but the crowd seemed to embrace the new songs, despite not hearing any older favorites. Having previously opened for Tool and as the rhythm section of The Melvins Big Band, the trust was earned, and they did not disappoint. Hoppy, a little sludgy, and with some bitterness, we’ll deem them our “IPA” of the evening.

Austin, TX bred The Sword headlined the evening with a 75 min. set of no-frills, so-called stoner doom metal… that inexplicably began with the intro music of Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’. The four-piece is out in support of its fourth and latest effort, Apocryphon (Razor and Tie), with song titles not out of place in a Tolkien novel or as an episode name on Game of Thrones. While the newer songs embrace more of a classic hard rock sound (think early Sabbath), they fit seamlessly within the context of the older, darker material.

‘Cloak of Feathers’ from the newest release came out of the gate in high gear, with the band moving from song to song, without much pause or stopping to address the audience; this was about power and momentum.

Biggest song, ‘Freya’ (which was even featured on the Guitar Hero game) was played fairly early in the set, launching devil-horned hands into the air and sending long hair flying to and fro. Thematically, every song played out as a medieval or mystic journey, with horses galloping, blades flying, and wolves stalking, and the music reflected that.

Lead J. D. Cronise mostly stood in place, assaulting with his Flying V, while bassist Bryan Ritchie and drummer Jimmy Vela more than held down the rumble as guitarist Kyle Shutt shredded from stage-left, most notably on his solo during ‘The Chronomancer II: Nemesis’. The group is also known as a “band’s band”, with notable fans including Metallica, Lamb of God, and Machine Head, and has now breached the capitalistic mainstream, with releases of their own brands of beer and hot sauce.

The encore barely left any room to catch your breath, as they were out of the gate charging again, with ‘Barael’s Blade’ and ‘Lords’ from their 1st and 2nd albums respectively, with the latter ending in a drum free-for-all by Vela. Dark, classic, and a little thick, we’ll declare them our “Porter” of the night.

Following the show, the merch booth along the balcony was absolutely flooded with buyers, a positive sign for the music just heard and affirmation that metal/hard rock of all types, still lives and breathes robustly.