2006 Gatefold Original With Insert. Appears Unplayed. Sharpie Line Through Barcode (Promo Copy). “Glorifying Heavy Metal's Prototypical Qualities Is Exactly What The Sword Is All About, And Their 2006 Debut, Age Of Winters, Sees Them Joining California's High On Fire, Sweden's Witchcraft, And Australia's Wolfmother (To Name But A Few) At The Forefront Of What's Gradually Become Known In The Mid-'00s As The "Heritage" Or "Retro-Metal" Movement. No, Not Stoner Rock — That's Sooo Ten Years Earlier! The Only Thing The Sword And Their Ilk Have In Common With Most '90s Stoner Rockers Is Recognizing That All Heavy Metal Empires Are Sprung From The Black Sabbath Cornerstone, And The Token Signs Can Be Readily Heard In These Songs' Ominous Doom Chords, Pummeling, Down-Picked Staccato Riff-Runs, Lyrics About Fantasy And Legend, And, Finally, Those Borderline-Inadequate, Zombie Vocals First Made Acceptable By Ozzy Himself. The Sword's Singer, JD Cronise, Is Certainly Guilty Of The Latter, But Then That Only Helps To Focus One's Attention Upon The Album's Main Attraction: Its Megalithic Guitar Work. For The Record, The Sword Spins The Evolutionary Clock As Far Forward As '80s Thrash, On Occasion, Resulting In Colossal, Galloping Onslaughts Such As "Winter's Wolves" (Complete With Howling Wolves, Naturally) And "Iron Swan" (Prefaced By Delicate Melodies Of A Medieval Feel). Yes, You'll Probably Have To Be A Certified, Stainless Steel Metalhead To Really Appreciate The Skyscraping Riff Constructions Of "March Of The Lor" (An Instrumental In Eight Movements!), But The Vast Majority Of What's On-Hand Proves Remarkably Well-Balanced And Almost Suspiciously Immediate To The Ears. As Such, Age Of Winters Provides Neophyte Listeners With As Good An Entryway As Any Into The "Retro-Metal" Universe, While Also Managing To Sound Refreshing Even To Calloused Heavy Metal Ears — This Is No Small Achievement.” - Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide