Sword

There are / have been several bands called (The) Sword; this entry is about the 1980s Canadian power metal band.

For most people outside Canada, Sword were pretty much anonymous but they were quite important in Québec where they toured intensively for a good number of years throughout the 80's. They were around long before their debut got out and were featured regularly in the province's metal press.

Sword's sound can best be described as Dio era Black Sabbath (a bit like early Savatage but heavier) due in great part to Mike Plant's guitar playing, and mostly soloing. Lead singer Rick Hughes' voice is raspy and aggressive, not at all like Dio's but very original and powerful.

Sword's first album, Metalized, garnered many very favorable reviews, and indeed the band's brand of classy, accessible power metal showed a good deal of maturity and pointed toward a bright future. However, for whatever reason, the band didn't take off, and after a second album, Sweet Dreams, the band decided to disband.

In 2006, Sword's record company, Aquarius Records, released a greatest hits compilation called "The Best of Sword", in which Sword’s mastery lives on in a solid twelve pack of fist-pumping, bar-brawling ear splitters culled from two gems from the classic age of metal.