the Sword

[myboss57]

Loving the amps they use though - and that heavy groove!!

[BLS]

Awesome Band! I've seen them a few times and they always kick A**!!

[blackcloud45]

Houston, TX... they used the OR120 and Laney rigs. And yeah, the vocal mix sucked at my show too.

[ironlung40]

Houston, TX... they used the OR120 and Laney rigs. And yeah, the vocal mix sucked at my show too.

I know that relatively speaking, the vocals are not the strongest part with the Sword. This doesn't bother me. However, both times I've seen them play live at different venues, the vocals have been way too low to be heard well. I've heard other people say the same from different shows, and now you're saying it too. I'm beginning to wonder if this is on purpose with this band.

[blackcloud45]

I didn't think the guy sang bad, the sound man just really didn't have it together. Here's some crappy cell phone pics...

[nlimbaugh]

"...the hungry child worships" That's all I remember.

[Y0UNGBL00D]

i really think the vocals are deliberate. hes not the best singer on the planet. but when they do covers, as in zz top's cheap sunglasses, he actually comes up in the mix. i think its a style thing. having the vocals drowned a bit int he mix adds sort of an urgency to the words. like youre worrying about what hes saying being really important to the epic quest they are obviously singing about. its their thing. no one goes to see the sword for virtuosity, they go to dirnk beer, hear good hard rock that doesnt involve leather and/or affliciton t shirts, and think about dragons and stuff.

[myboss57]

i really think the vocals are deliberate. hes not the best singer on the planet. but when they do covers, as in zz top's cheap sunglasses, he actually comes up in the mix. i think its a style thing. having the vocals drowned a bit int he mix adds sort of an urgency to the words. like youre worrying about what hes saying being really important to the epic quest they are obviously singing about. its their thing. no one goes to see the sword for virtuosity, they go to dirnk beer, hear good hard rock that doesnt involve leather and/or affliciton t shirts, and think about dragons and stuff.

Nailed it!

[ironlung40]

no one goes to see the sword for virtuosity, they go to dirnk beer, hear good hard rock that doesnt involve leather and/or affliciton t shirts, and think about dragons and stuff.

great line there! I think this is why I like to go see them! I used to be into the 90's grunge and self loathing rock. I really liked the noise that era produced, but after awhile, it's like why do you have to be so depressed about nothing really, to make good music? It became a drag to be around all of these pretenders acting like their life is so rough........

[Y0UNGBL00D]

evne my gf thought it was rad. she has a FAIRLY good doucheometer. sword wins.

[jojo68]

I've seen the sword about 6 times. They are always good, but yea the vocs can be off. They were excellent when I saw them open for Kyuss Lives the other night in dallas, but DAMN KYUSS blew me away !!!

[ironlung40]

I've seen the sword about 6 times. They are always good, but yea the vocs can be off. They were excellent when I saw them open for Kyuss Lives the other night in dallas, but DAMN KYUSS blew me away !!!

Yeah, Kyuss was awesome!! I only heard of Kyuss last year, so I don't have a history of singing along to all of their songs, so many that they played I had never heard before, but it was still very easy to be immediately into them. I enjoyed watching every second of their show. I haven't figured out the guitar player's set up though. He had a metal panel JMP 4 holer which was a 1987 or 50 watter I believe, and (1) reissue 2203, and (1) 2204, and all of them atop their own speaker cabinet. I couldn't make out what was going on with his board, so I don't know how they amps were set up, etc.

I know the 2204 was a 2204, because I only saw 2 tubes glowing from the rear of the stage, I could see 4 in the 2203.

[jojo68]

Yea, those sure didn't sound like marshalls !!

[ironlung40]

Yea, those sure didn't sound like marshalls !!

Well, he plays with his rhythm pickup most of the time....or at least that was the position it was in every time I looked at the show I went to. You can get some heavy fuzzy tones out of a JCM 800 single channel marshall that way If you're also boosting it, which he does. I've used my 2203 this way with a bass boost and it'll do the doom rock as good as any other "doom" amp I've heard.

But yeah, I agree, his sound is not really the "traditional" marshall sound at all........I could here shades of the typical marshall sound when he would use his wahs. The brightness came back into his lead tone when he used those.