After breaking onto the scene with their 2020 EP Between II Gardens, Atlanta-based quartet Sword II don’t shy away from their loud sound and fire off all cylinders on their debut album, Spirit World Tour. Forming in 2018, the experimental rock band consists of bassist Mari González, drummer José “Frio” Izaguirre, and guitarists Corey Zuko and Travis Arnold, all of whom uniquely provide vocals. Spirit World Tour finds the band experimenting in real time, throwing every idea onto the wall like splatter art and seeing what sticks. Fortunately for them, rarely does that method ever fail.
On the lead single to the album, “First Rule of the Bug” introduces doom metal music to lo-fi recording, with a healthy dose of heavy distortion in each and every instrument. Against the aggressive instrumentation, the vocals are soft, almost fragile, while layered over Spanish lyrics and electronic yet chaotic ambiance buried behind the walls of distortion.
“Mirror” similarly shows no signs of slowing matters down thanks to Zuko and Arnold’s guitar-playing digging deep like razor-sharp fangs biting down on flesh. Izaguirre also gets a moment to shine and bangs his drum kit down to hell. But around the halfway point, it unexpectedly transitions into a softer sound with pleasant electronic production reminiscent of nostalgic video game soundtracks.
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That side of the band isn’t a rare occurrence, more explicitly showing it on the largely instrumental track “9-12.” Marked by crumbling garage drums and a decrepit piano, there are no lyrics, a sharp turn away from the political content on most of the tracklisting. The only remnant of vocals is faint harmonizing from one of the members, serenading the hodgepodge of instruments in a refreshing switch-up.
Appropriately, the album cover is a confusing mixture of strange objects that perfectly reflect the four’s perception of what was happening in the US, including candles, jewelry, fake plants, a brick, and a toy of Clayface from the Batman comics. Recorded amid the ongoing chaos that happened in 2020, the final product is an all-you-can-eat collection of styles.
“That whole summer we were just immersed in that climate, making friends with people on the street, bringing generators and speakers to demonstrations, washing tear gas from our eyes,” said the band. “And then when we would finally go back home…we had a whole new perspective on how we wanted to do things.”
Though three years detached from that tumultuous period, Spirit World Tour serves as a reminder of just how hectic life was and is with the combined efforts of four musicians from different backgrounds coming together to create something genuinely new.
Words: David Sosa
Spirit World Tour by Sword II is out on all streaming services. For more on new music, follow them on Instagram and Bandcamp.
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