{"id":8791,"date":"2015-10-23T18:05:05","date_gmt":"2015-10-24T01:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/?p=8791"},"modified":"2015-10-26T14:03:19","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T21:03:19","slug":"rocking-in-high-country-the-sword-bring-their-best-to-the-glass-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/2015\/10\/23\/rocking-in-high-country-the-sword-bring-their-best-to-the-glass-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocking In High Country: The Sword Bring Their Best To The Glass House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review by Andrew Bansal, photos & videos by Matt Nielson<\/strong><\/p>\n

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October 21st 2015, The Glass House, Pomona CA: <\/strong>Following the release of their fifth full-length studio album ‘High Country’ via Razor & Tie Records in August 2015, Austin, Texas riffmongers The Sword announced an extensive North American touring run for the Fall, to present tunes from the new record as well as an assortment of older material, playing a full 90-minute set in headline gigs. Through previous albums ‘Warp Riders’ (2010) and ‘Apocryphon’ (2012), The Sword exhibited changes and progression in their musical style, introducing more and more classic hard rock into the stoner metal sound they started out with on early albums ‘Age Of Winters’ (2006) and ‘Gods Of The Earth’ (2008). With ‘High Country’, they took their tendencies of experimentation to a new level, and for longtime fans and followers it was going to be interesting to observe how the band’s musical journey is reflected in a full live performance. The Sword arrived at the Glass House in Pomona, California for a headline show last Wednesday October 21st 2015 with support acts All Them Witches and Mondo Drag. Fans turned up expecting a great evening, but even diehards could not have predicted the kind of treat they were in for.<\/p>\n

Doors opened at 7, and the show began promptly at 8 PM with Mondo Drag<\/a><\/strong> starting proceedings. Originally having started out in 2006 in Iowa, Mondo Drag are now based out of Oakland, California, and were the ‘local’ opening act at this show. They turned out to be a very appropriate selection for this purpose, as their synth-heavy hallucinogenic psych rock took this unsuspecting audience somewhere onto a distant planet. Keyboardist\/vocalist John Gamino was clearly the lynchpin of the quintet, and donning vintage instruments and attire, his band mates complemented him well. The turnout was light at this point of the evening, but the rightly labeled ‘fog prog \/ heavy psych’ Mondo Drag were a bonus for those that turned up early. <\/p>\n