(Stoner/Doom Metal) [LP][24/96] The Sword - Warp Riders - 2010, FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Turntable: Audiotechnica AT-PL120
Cartridge: Tonar (Nagaoka) JT-555
Stylus: Ultra-Ex nude stylus
Receiver: Pioneer VSX4700S
Interconnection: Goldkabel, 1m, Cinch to 3.5 Stereo Jack
Computer: iMac Intel Core2Duo 2.16 Ghz
Software: Amadeus Pro 1.5

Recording Process: Turntable -> Receiver -> Amadeus Pro -> Repaircenter -> DeClick -> DC Offset Removal -> FLAC Export

Warp Riders is the third studio album by American heavy metal band The Sword, released on August 24, 2010. Recorded between February and April 2010 at Wire Recording in Austin, Texas, the album was produced by Matt Bayles, marking the first time the band had hired an external producer. A concept album centred on the story of a protagonist named Ereth from a planet called Acheron, Warp Riders marks a conscious change in style for the band, incorporating more elements of hard rock than on previous albums. It was the last album to feature original drummer Trivett Wingo, who left the band in October 2010.

Warp Riders is The Sword's first concept album, a science fiction maelstrom put to the storming, relentless riffage and pounding rhythms upon which the band has staked its reputation. It's also their most flat-out, supercharged, adrenaline-pumping work yet, a chrome-plated war machine that lords over the blackened sky. From the street-prowling anthems "Night City" and "Lawless Lands" to the two-part showdown of "The Chronomancer," to the furious mechanics of closing track "(The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fire," The Sword forces eminent domain ruling over heavy metal for the next decade, and welcome all challengers for an ill-fated shot at the title.

Warp Riders tells the tale of Ereth, an archer banished from his tribe on the planet Acheron. A hardscrabble planet that has undergone a tidal lock, which has caused one side to be scorched by three suns, and the other enshrouded in perpetual darkness, it is the background for a tale of strife and fantasy, the battle between pure good and pure evil. How it's told – through the dueling lead guitars of J.D. Cronise and Kyle Shutt, and the concussive rhythm section of bassist Bryan Ritchie and drummer Trivett Wingo – underscores the narrative with molten steel and unreal precision.

Guitarist and lead vocalist J.D. Cronise explains the lineage of Warp Riders: "I'm pretty sure the first concept album I ever heard was Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche when I was a kid, which I was way into. Even though I never really understood the whole story, I was nonetheless enthralled by how the album created its own world. I wanted to create a setting for our songs that would be unique and different, but still a place where epic sagas unfold in proper Sword fashion." Inspiration took hold from "lots of things ... the legend of Atlantis, old Heavy Metal magazines, the films of René Laloux, a childhood dream, and The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda to name a few."

The story of Warp Riders, entitled "The Night The Sky Cried Tears Of Fire" (written by Cronise), follows Ereth as he discovers a mysterious orb and meets the Chronomancer, a being beyond time and space who enlists him in a quest to restore the planet's balance. Along the way he encounters strange warriors, mysterious witches, ancient androids, and a crew of space pirates with a vessel that will alter the course of history... a vessel known as, The Sword.
- Wikipedia

Much was made of the Sword's decision to abandon Middle Earth, following two acclaimed albums steeped in fantasy metal, in order to rocket into outer space for their third full-length, 2010's Warp Riders; but the band's vintage metal sound suffered not one bit from its new alien surroundings. In fact, it hardly changed: retaining most of its thrash-infused metal classicism while shifting gears ever so slightly from a doom to stoner rock undercurrent, then capping it all off with an ambitious science fiction storyline (in two parts!). Yes, this is a concept album in the unadulterated (and dangerously indulgent) definition of the term, one that sets the stage for Warp Riders on the distant planet Acheron, where our banished hero, Ereth the archer, is locked in an epic struggle between good and evil and, well, you get the drift. More important is how the members of the Sword -- vocalist/guitarist John D. Cronise, guitaritst Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie, and drummer Trivett Wingo -- convincingly navigate this proverbial meteor belt. Whether revisiting familiar musical ground on instrumentally proficient metallic moshers like "Arrows in the Dark," the aptly named "The Chronomancer I: Hubris" and "(The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fire," or pealing off more compact, surprisingly nimble time capsules back to the 1970s like "Tres Brujas," "Lawless Lands" and "Night City." Throughout all this -- both the old ways and new directions -- the ever-present weak link would have to be Cronise's emotionally deadpan vocals, but, as was the case with earlier Sword albums, they ultimately don't matter as much as the group's pulverizing twin guitar attack. And these still dominate the proceedings (never more so than on the instrumental "Astraea's Dream"), despite shedding some of their serrated dragon-toothed distortion to reflect the sleeker, more aerodynamic, but no less cyclopean spaceship hulls befitting Warp Riders' sci-fi setting, before powering the Sword to victory yet again. And they didn't even have to rename themselves the Lightsabers to make it work.
- Eduardo Rivadavia, allmusic

J. D. Cronise – vocals, guitars
Kyle Shutt – guitars
Bryan Richie – bass
Trivett Wingo – drums, percussion