Texas Metal Favorites the Sword Headline Great American in SF

By Dave Pehling

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Austin, TX-based retro-metal veterans the Sword bring their current tour to San Francisco's Great American Music Hall Thursday with support from heavy prog duo Zombi.

For the better part of the last two decades, the Sword have been delivering it's style of tuneful, Sabbath-influenced metal. Founded by principles John D. Cronise (guitar/vocals) and Kyle Shutt (guitar) in 2003, the quartet rounded out by bassist Bryan Richie and original drummer Trivett Wingo quickly established itself as a band to watch on the Austin scene with a heralded appearance at SXSW a year after coming together.

Soon touring the country supporting such diverse bands as bluesy heavyweights Clutch and more indie outfits like ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the band was eventually signed to independent psych/metal imprint Kemado Records. They released their heavy riffing, doom-laden debut Age of Winters to wide acclaim in 2006. The band got an enormous boost when they were hand-picked by Metallica to serve as openers on multiple tours in 2008 and 2009.

While main songwriter Cronise remained lyrically focused on fantasy subject matter for the band's more thrash-minded sophomore album Gods of the Earth, he turned to science fiction for inspiration on the story-driven, conceptual opus Warp Riders, which earned the Sword its best reviews yet. Since then, the group has continued to refine its unique vision, adding elements of prog rock and psychedelia without sacrificing the heft and crunch that have remained it's trademark. The quartet showed off its ever-expanding sonic palette by releasing Low Country, a stripped-down acoustic companion piece to their 2015 album High Country.

The band would announce a hiatus following a U.S. tour to promote 2018's Used Future, but would return to activity in 2020, just in time for the pandemic shutdown to curtail any touring. The Sword issued a pair of career-spanning compilations: Conquest of Kingdoms featuring an array of live, rare and unreleased recordings -- including covers of such bands as Pentagram, KISS and ZZ Top -- while Chronology: 2006–2018 mixed in some of the band's most recognizable tunes and fan favorites for a sprawling 3-CD set. The group also launched a string of "Conquest of Quarantine!" videos on their YouTube channel to promote the compilations, showcasing remote live recordings of some of the Sword's hits and covers.

For this return to the Bay Area at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco Thursday, the Sword are joined by celebrated Pittsburgh, PA-based instrumental duo Zombi. Founded around the turn of the millennium, the band takes its name from the Italian title to George Romero's iconic film "Dawn of the Dead" -- the Italian progressive-rock group Goblin, who did the music, were a major influence. Bass/synthesizer player Steve Moore and drummer/synth player A.E. Paterra combine the driving rhythm section work of bands like Rush and Yes with the synth and sequencer pulse made by John Carpenter for the soundtracks to his movies "Halloween" and "Escape From New York" for their eponymous self-released debut recording in 2001.

By the time Zombi issued it's second effort Cosmos for Release Entertainment in 2004, the duo had amped up Paterra's kinetic drumming as a propulsive force behind their expansive space-rock epics. Finding kindred spirits in post-rock experimentalists like Trans Am and San Francisco's own the F--king Champs, Zombi logged thousands of miles of road work during the decade, taking stages across the country with their arsenal of vintage keyboards and a DIY laser light show that added to the onstage atmosphere.

Signed to noted independent metal imprint Relapse Records for their second full-length Surface to Air in 2006, the band would gradually evolve their propulsive sound, introducing elements of krautrock and Giorgio Moroder's Italio space disco for their 2011 album Escape Velocity. By that time, both members had begun to release solo material, with Paterra delving deeper into sequencing and ambient drones under the moniker Majeure and Moore indulging in everything from his dance-oriented projects Gianni Rossi and Lovelock and a string of acclaimed soundtracks to new horror films including the OSTs for "Cub," "The Mind's Eye," "Mayhem" and "Bliss."

While Zombi took an extended break from releasing new material after Shape Shift in 2015, it has been exceptionally active since the pandemic began. The duo issued 2020 to wide praise, which was followed up by the self-released ambient soundtrack EP Evans City and last year's stunning Liquid Tensions EP. This San Francisco appearance supporting the Sword marks Zombi's first Bay Area show in five years.

The Sword with Zombi
Thursday, March 3, 8 p.m. $24
Great American Music Hall