Sword Of Judgement
Seattle is known for its hard hitting bands that came out of the 80's and 90's like Bloodgood, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and then there's Demon Hunter from the early 2000's just to mention a few. However, there was another band from Seattle that flew under the Metal radar who didn't get the notoriety that they deserve. The band in question is 'Sword Of Judgement' which was a four piece 80's inspired independent Thrash/Speed Metal act. Sword Of Judgement got their start back in 2009 with the release of their first demo which was comprised of 4 tracks - 1.Sworn to the Sword, 2.Promised Land, 3.Final Judgement (Live), 4.Valley of the Bones. Band members for this 2009 demo were Vocalist/Lead Guitars-Taylor Enloe, Guitars-Jack Darms, Bass/Backing Vocals-Kenny Bender, Drums-Jeremiah Gandy.
In 2011 Sword Of Judgement released a second demo which was comprised of 3 tracks - 1.Slaughterhouse, 2.Revolutionary Suicide0, 3.Consumed by Darkness. This 2011 release was recorded at Pacific Studios in Tacoma, Washington and has a surprisingly good production quality for a demo.
Frontman-Taylor Enloe's Vocal work on this demo is top notch with a delivery that sounds like a hybrid between Dale Thompson(Bride) and Axl Rose(Guns N Roses).
The guitar work by both Taylor Enloe & Jack Darms is crushing and simply shreds in the tried and true methods of the 80's Thrash bands. Also, there are some Doom style riffs present here and there that only add more depth to this project.
The following is a partial lyric that gives us some insight into the band's beliefs:
"Revolutionary Suicide"
Neither is there salvation in any other
for there is no other name
under heaven given among man
whereby we must be saved
Neither is there salvation in any other
for there is no other name
under heaven given among man
whereby we must be saved
The lyric above was taken directly from the King James version Bible where if we read a couple of verses before, along with the lyric/text, we find who the band is referring to as their Savior:
"10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
"10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
(If anyone has access to the lyrics please contact me here at Christian Molten Metal)
If you are looking for some quality Thrash Metal in the veins of Turniquet or Seventh Angel then you are going to love Sword Of Judgement. Here lately, there has been an uptick in new Thrash bands with that 80's style sound in their arrangements and a return to all things Metal. With that said, there's definitely a market and an audience for it now. Hopefully we haven't heard the last from this killer Seattle based band because I for one am hungry for more.
Sword Of Judgement has made their 2011 demo a free download at either of the following sites:
Musicians:
Taylor Enloe-Vocals/Guitars
Jack Darms-Guitars
Kenny Bender-Bass
Jeremiah 'Jam' Gandy-Drums
Taylor Enloe-Vocals/Guitars
Jack Darms-Guitars
Kenny Bender-Bass
Jeremiah 'Jam' Gandy-Drums