October 19, 2025 – The Sword at Union Transfer last night was unreal. It has been years since they put out new music but every note felt like it had been simmering for all that time. They just reissued Warp Raiders this year for its fifteenth anniversary and the room was vibrating with that old magic. You could feel it in your chest, like the riffs were dragging you through some desert storm you didn’t want to end.
Photos + Article by Keith Baker @average_joe_photo
The crowd was totally lost in the sound. People swayed and nodded together, riding the waves of fuzz and bass that seemed to bend the air itself. When they covered “Space Oddity” it was like the walls of the room were breathing with us. The guitars twisted and hummed like molten metal and the drums hit so heavy you could feel them in your bones. Time didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the sound and the smoke and the moment.
Watching them play was like entering another world. There were no flash tricks, no distractions, just Doom metal pulling you under and holding you there. The energy built slow but relentless. By the middle of the set it felt like the air was a thick blanket of sound and we were all melting into it together.
The Sword reminded Philly why their music sticks with you. Doom waits and when it hits you, it hits forever.
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