The Sword appear to  be attempting to shed the “stoner rock” title and picking up the “boogie rock” title. That much is apparent not only from the interview that guitarist Kyle Shutt gives to Rolling Stonebut also from the song, “Empty Temples,” that the site premiered today. It sounds like something that could be on a Thin Lizzy album as opposed to a Black Sabbath one. Here’s what Shutt said about the song:

“‘Empty Temples’ could be considered our mission statement for the record,” he enthuses. “We’ve shed our old trappings and embraced a livelier, more upbeat approach to songwriting while still maintaining the vision we shared when we started this band over a decade ago. High Country has more flavors than any of our previous records, everything from folk to pop to boogie to straight-up rock, and proves that we are the other ‘Little Ol’ Band From Texas.'”

High Country will be released on August 21 on Razor & Tie, but preorders will become available at iTunes tomorrow (17). Anyone that orders it will get instant grat downloads of the title track and “Empty Temples.” Head to Rolling Stone to hear the song if you can’t stream it below.

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Bram Teitelman