Not entirely sold on the title track. It's more southern rock and less stoner metal, but it's still good.

Wasn't crazy about it either, though I don't mind the direction.

I endorse the stylistic format and direction of the thread title.

I like that a lot better

I think Geg The Dan Fan would like this, if he's willing to expand his horizons a bit.

I'm digging it.

That one is fantastic. The last two have been a lot better than the title track.

agreed

I'm guessing most Sword fans will hate this album, but I like it. The second half is much better than the first.

The riff on Turned to Dust is waaaaaaay too close to the riff on Hells Bells.

yeah I'm digging it so far. People will hate it like the last two I think, but oh well.

I could probably do without Seriously Mysterious. Or maybe not. Its definitely bizarre. hah.

hate is a strong word, but yeah, i'm not feeling it yet. Though i'm sure the record will show that I didn't like the last one at first either. Or even 6 months later. It took a while to warm up to that one and i'm hoping the same is true for High Country.

Turned to Dust could have been a great song but it ends too early. After a fantastic 3 minute buildup i want it to have 3 or 4 minutes of heavy riff badassery and it just sort of peters out.

Early favorites:
Early Snow
The Dreamthieves
Buzzards
Turned to Dust
The Bees of Spring

I think they would have done well to cut 3 or 4 tracks. The album would be more focused. As it is, it just seems really jumbled and not sequenced particularly well. I hate the applause track at the end of Suffer No Fools.

Just finished my first listen, the 2nd half of the record is far better than the first. Their previous album took some time to grow on my, so hopefully this one will too. I really want to like this, been a fan of theirs for awhile.

thoughts:

Dreamthieves and Empty Temples are killer.

Bees of Spring is nice.

I agree Turned to Dust should have been turned into a huge epic, but I still like it.

Surprised to hear so many instrumentals. Some of them sound like demos that never went anywhere.

Buzzards is a cool typical Sword song.

Early Snow is growing on me, but I want to hear more horns.

Tears Like Diamonds kinda sucks, and I hate that Seriously Mysterious is sandwiched right in the middle.

I need to retrack this I think.

Its clunky and uneven and has dangerous signs of the dreaded "maturity" (aka rock band death), but there is a lot to like.

This tracklisting worked nicely for my morning run.

Unicorn Farm
Empty Temples
High Country
Early Snow
The Dreamthieves
Buzzards
Silver Petals
Ghost Eye
Turned to Dust
The Bees of Spring

On first listen this is pretty disappointing, but I'm assuming this one of those albums that get a lot better with repeat listens. The Dreamthieves, Buzzards, and Ghost Eye were the standouts for me.

3rd and 4th listens were better

This definitely got much better with repeat listens. Been listening to it a lot lately. Agreed that Turned to Dust is a huge missed opportunity, could have been an epic 7 or 8 minute song.

Got my tix for their Oct. 20 show here. Kinda surprised they are playing such a tiny venue. Place probably doesn't hold more than 300 people or so.

Are they a particularly popular band?