Age of Winters (Remastered 20th Anniversary Edition) The Sword

• 1 Celestial Crown (2026 Remastered Version) 01:57
• 2 Barael's Blade (2026 Remastered Version) 02:48
• 3 Freya (2026 Remastered Version) 04:34
• 4 Winter's Wolves (2026 Remastered Version) 04:36
• 5 The Horned Goddess (2026 Remastered Version) 05:01
• 6 Iron Swan (2026 Remastered Version) 05:46
• 7 Lament for the Aurochs (2026 Remastered Version) 07:59
• 8 March of the Lor (2026 Remastered Version) 04:41
• 9 Ebethron (2026 Remastered Version) 05:35
• 10 Celestial Crown/Barael's Blade (2004 Demo Version) 04:38
• 11 Winter's Wolves (2004 Demo Version) 04:41
• 12 Iron Swan (2004 Demo Version) 05:39
• Total Runtime 57:55

Info for Age of Winters (Remastered 20th Anniversary Edition)

Newly remastered! Marking the 20 year anniversary of Age of Winters, this new edition elevates an already impossibly high mark from The Sword’s early canon. Newly remastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio, this anniversary edition accents and amplifies a modern metal classic.

"Coming to grips with the Sword's unlikely genesis in the alternative music Mecca of Austin, TX, leads one to wonder whether heavy metal has finally become hip again. Depending on your generation, nothing will seem as simultaneously preposterous (Gen-X'ers who came of age during pop-metal's heyday and don't recognize it as an unrepresentative anomaly) or obvious (everyone else) when discussing a genre that's spent the bulk of its 35-year history on the absolute fringe of rock culture. If that isn't "alternative," well, what is? In any case, glorifying heavy metal's prototypical qualities is exactly what the Sword is all about, and their 2006 debut, Age of Winters, sees them joining California's High on Fire, Sweden's Witchcraft, and Australia's Wolfmother (to name but a few) at the forefront of what's gradually become known in the mid-'00s as the "heritage" or "retro-metal" movement. No, not stoner rock -- that's sooo ten years earlier! The only thing the Sword and their ilk have in common with most '90s stoner rockers is recognizing that all heavy metal empires are sprung from the Black Sabbath cornerstone, and the token signs can be readily heard in these songs' ominous doom chords (just listen to opener "Celestial Crown" and "Lament for the Aurochs"), pummeling, down-picked staccato riff-runs ("Barael's Blade," "Ebethron"), lyrics about fantasy and legend ("Freya," "The Horned Goddess," etc.), and, finally, those borderline-inadequate, zombie vocals first made acceptable by Ozzy himself. The Sword's singer, JD Cronise, is certainly guilty of the latter, but then that only helps to focus one's attention upon the album's main attraction: its megalithic guitar work. For the record, the Sword spins the evolutionary clock as far forward as '80s thrash, on occasion, resulting in colossal, galloping onslaughts such as "Winter's Wolves" (complete with howling wolves, naturally) and "Iron Swan" (prefaced by delicate melodies of a medieval feel). Yes, you'll probably have to be a certified, stainless steel metalhead to really appreciate the skyscraping riff constructions of "March of the Lor" (an instrumental in eight movements!), but the vast majority of what's on-hand proves remarkably well-balanced and almost suspiciously immediate to the ears. As such, Age of Winters provides neophyte (errr -- alternative?) listeners with as good an entryway as any into the "retro-metal" universe, while also managing to sound refreshing even to calloused heavy metal ears -- this is no small achievement." (Eduardo Rivadavia, AMG)

J. D. Cronise, vocals, guitars, production, mixing
Kyle Shutt, guitars, mixing
Bryan Richie, bass, engineering, mixing
Trivett Wingo, drums, mixing

Digitally remastered

The Sword
Formed in 1980 in Montreal, Sword released their debut album Metalized in 1986 described as; Aggressive, Melodic, Loud and Rude. And to which Kerrangs Mark Putterford said; “My eyes are a painful shade of purple. My ears are ringing tortuously. My mouth is awash with blood and broken teeth, I’ve just been ten rounds with a Montreal mob called Sword. “

They were hand-picked by Metallica to open the Quebec leg of the Master of puppets tour, Alice Cooper’s Canadian Return of the nightmare tour and then crisscrossed the UK with the Mighty Lemmy on Motorhead’s Rock’n’roll tour.

It was followed by the Heavy but diverse Sweet Dreams in 1988.

After a short US tour promoting the album, they started work on their 3rd album. All hell broke loose and a parting of ways ensued… Until 2011, when they reunited for a few select shows in Canada and Germany and found the urge to go back in the studio to finish where they had left off.

Rick Hughes
Our lead vocalist, is also known in Quebec for is popular french solo career that as him touring locally constantly. He was seen for 10 years on the hit Quebec TV musical quiz show "La Fureur" as vocalist with the house band. He also did a 8 year stint as back vocalist for Quebec's french rocker Éric Lapointe. He also keeps himself vocally in shape by working with a Led Zep tribute band and his own rocking band "the Rick Hughes Show."

As of late, he has been pretty busy with the "American Story Show" , a rocking musical that has local critics excited and the many sell outs have proved them right. Add to all that Sword, and you have one pretty busy LV.

Mike Plant
Our lead guitar player is also the band's leader. Mike as kept busy over the years working with various local artists as a studio session player or live touring. His main act for the past 15 years as been ''Les Porn Flakes'' a Quebec variety band that only has special guests as singers. To date he as worked with over 100 singers from all over the world with the likes of Dee Snider and most recently Vince Neil. He also keeps in shape working the yard for a landscaping store. But the stage and playing his songs are his calling....

Mike LaRock
Our bass player , the strong quiet type. He's kept his hand over the years by teaching guitar lessons and jamming with his friends. He made it up the ladder working in the warehousing business while raising his many children. When the phone rings and its time to Sword-up, the beast awakes and he's ready to make the earth shake.

Dan Hughes
The Drummer. His Bonham inspired drumming kept him busy behind his kit either working with Canadian rock band Too Many Cooks and his sister Lulu Hughes or one of his brother Rick's different projects. He also played with a variety of local acts. Off the stage you'll find him coaching hockey and soccer with his kids. Dan is also a freelance cameraman. Most often covering local sports for Quebec's TVA Sports station. Sword's come back in 2011 pushed him to get back in shape to do 2 hours straight of heavy metal drumming and he couldn't be happier!

This album contains no booklet.