The Sword and Royal Thunder @ Webster Hall 12/1/15

Austin, Texas is known for spawning more than a handful of hard rocking, groove laced groups ranging from the acid drenched 13th Floor Elevators to the rough boys ZZ Top. The latest offering of home grown goodness comes in the form of The Sword.

Opening the show was the Atlanta based quartet, Royal Thunder who brought their own brand of bombastic hard rock in full force. The set consisted mainly of tunes off their newest and critically acclaimed release “Crooked Doors” to a well attended and receptive New York audience. Filled with catchy hooks, heavy melodies and the powerful, thunderous (pun more intended than not) voice of front woman/ bassist MIny Parsonz it appears the resurgence of rock and roll is in very good hands.

Next up were the previously mentioned psychedelic warlocks of stoner rock. The fantastically dubbed, electronic glazed “Unicorn Farm” blared over the house monitors as the band took the stage. What happened after can only be described as pure musical bliss. A hearty, lengthy set primarily dominated by songs off their latest effort High Country as well as gems from Warp Riders and Apocryphon were sprinkled throughout the performance. Long time listeners were not forgotten however, The Sword made sure to deliver bone rattling performances of fan favorites “The Horned Goddess,” “Maiden, Mother, Crone,” and “Freya” to help round out the set and touch upon every release in their steadily growing repertoire. What the Sword might have lacked in stage presence they more than made up in skull crushing, mind bending, head banging, smokey guitar riffs and undeniable grooves. Once again, the future of good old fashion high voltage rock and roll is looking bright!