swordofdoom.com

Austin, Texas, hard rock band The Sword, featuring Cave Spring graduate J.D. Cronise, is set to release its fourth studio album, “Apocryphon” (Razor & Tie), on Oct. 22. As has been the fashion lately, a vinyl release is part of the package. But if you’re jonesing for that old-school media between vinyl and digital, The Sword has you covered.

The band has joined forces with independent record stores nationwide for a cassette giveaway, according to a Razor & Tie news release. Here’s the deal — buy “Apocryphon” on CD or vinyl, and they’ll kick in a free cassette version, limited edition and hand-numbered.

Go to mymetalclub.com or recordstoreday.com to find the (possibly) participating store closest to you. We did, and we found stores in Lynchburg and Staunton, and in Princeton and Beckley, W.Va. Two record stores in depressed West “by God”? And none in the ‘Noke. Well, there is The Bazaar, but it’s not listed on the recordstoreday site. We’ll check to see our local shop is carrying the disc.

One could also visit The Sword’s own website, where “Apocryphon” is available in  multiple formats.

The news release e-mail also included tour dates. The closet to Cronise’s old home is a show at Washington’s Rock & Roll Hotel. The band hasn’t been to Roanoke since November 2010. That was a makeup date scheduled after drummer Trivett Wingo, another Cave Springer, left the band just before it’s scheduled Martin’s Downtown show the previous month. That bit of rescheduling prevented me from attending, and the weather that night was winter wicked, keeping a crowd away, from what folks said later.

Finally, here’s the band hanging out with Anthony Bordain, eating fish tacos. The band has its own hot sauce, “Tears of Fire.” I’m not sure how I feel about that. But Bordain delivers a fine one-liner: “Tears of fire today. Ring of fire tomorrow.”