LIVE BY THE SWORD – THE GLORIOUS DEAD EP

While the world is slowly crumbling, it is LIVE BY THE SWORD that rises up, bears arms, and marches into a new dark age with their brand new and special concept EP release THE GLORIOUS DEAD. Two years ago, the band surprised the scene with an unusual blend of streetrock and metal on their EXPLORING SOLDIERS RISE album, with influences ranging from oi! and hardrock to black metal. Now the band is ready to explore these chosen paths even further with the addition of Sander van Baalen from THE DEVIL’S BLOOD to their ranks, who immediately put his mark on the new songs with his characteristic drumming style. On THE GLORIOUS DEAD EP, the Dutch-American brotherhood surprises again by putting a mix of their most vulnerable and most heavy songs to date on one disc, from beautifully arranged acoustic tracks to hard pounding epic metal attacks. The songs are based around a central theme that reflects on the impact of war from different angles. That includes a heavy rocking version of the traditional and classic folk song “The Green Fields Of France”. The fact that vocalist Erick Barnes is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with several tours under his belt adds even more weight to the songs and the concept. The previous LBTS releases already showcased Erick as a very strong vocalist, but on THE GLORIOUS DEAD EP he pushes things a little further with some impressive clean vocal lines. THE GLORIOUS DEAD EP is being put out as a warm-up for the full album release. It will be released as a one-time limited pressing on 12″ vinyl and CD, and it will not be re-released in this form or format ever again. All tracks were exclusively recorded for the EP release except for “Sacrifice”, which is taken from the upcoming full-length album CERNUNNOS (planned for March 2023). The lyrics for “Sacrifice” were written by Richard Walker of SOLSTICE fame, who happened to be a great supporter of the band since the very start. Sir Walker’s lyrics are a perfect fit for this release, and the song is a threatening and teasing glimpse of things to come.