Interviews

The Sword – Interview with Kyle Shutt & Bryan Richie

An Expansion of Boundaries: An Interview with Kyle Shutt & Bryan Richie of the Sword
by George Archibald for Empire Extreme

Published

10 years ago

October 3, 2016

George Archibald

An Expansion of Boundaries

An Interview with Kyle Shutt & Bryan Richie of the Sword

By: George Archibald & Josh Drespling

Since their inception in 2003, Austin, TX natives The Sword have been redefining the meaning of metal. Fresh off the release of their acoustic version of High Country entitled Low Country, The Sword are picking up with a tour with legendary rockers Opeth. Low Country was an expansion on what a song could really be. They took the lyrics that vocalist John D. Cronise, laid down for High Country, and went back into the studio to create new arrangements with a different approach to the songwriting process. Empire Extreme was fortunate to speak with bassist Bryan Richie and guitarist Kyle Shutt, to discuss touring and the new album.

EE: We didn’t realize this was the first day of the tour for you guys till management told us earlier. Anyway you guys put out an acoustic album out, which is kind of an odd thing especially for a band that is as heavy as you guys. What was the direction and reasoning behind putting out such an album? I know it started with one song then became another and another.

TS: You pretty much just answered your own question there. The record company always wants bonus tracks and material. It’s almost like writing a record is not good enough, can’t you write some filler bullshit we can give away for free. We don’t write filler bullshit. We are not capable of writing filler bullshit. So it’s always been a struggle for us to come up with things that we can use for what we call “bonus rock.” We had thought to do the songs, ‘Empty Temples’ and ‘Seriously Mysterious’, and time got away from us. We were finishing the records, and when you finish a record you have four months of what they call ‘set-up.’ It’s awful, it’s a horrible time because you’ve done this record and it’s in the can. You’re in limbo, no one has heard this yet and you start to question the work. You start to get in weird head spaces.

The Sword – Low Country

EE: Were you out on the road at that time, or sitting at home?

TS: No, sitting at home. It would be completely superfluous to be out on the road at that time, because then you would have to do it again when the record comes out. So you just sit. A lot of bands make that mistake. ‘Don’t ever go on tour before your album comes out.’ I know you want to, really bad. Just don’t think, ‘oh we’ll do a two-month tour prior to it comes out.’ NO, you need to have the album at the show. So people can buy it right there ready to go. It’s a rookie mistake.

So back to the album, it came about on our downtime. JD went back to Ashville, and the three of us were still in Austin. We just kind of pounded it out. We had JD’s vocal tracks from the sessions, so that is what we used as our guide and wrote new music over those tracks.

EE: We heard there are some lingering tracks out there still yet to be released?

TS: The ‘Agartha’ version and another, that was where we were like ok this is getting a little out of whack. (Brian) I did a version of ‘Silver Petals’ that sounded like Torch. We thought we would do all the heavy songs acoustic and try to do some of the quieter songs heavy. It came out to mixed results. We did a raw heavy take on that super slow jam ‘Turned to Dust’, and it’s going to be a part of our friend Sandy Carson’s photography book of live concert photography. It’s all like pictures of the crowds and it’s going to include a flexi 7 inch to go with the book. This is because a photo of our crowd is in the book.

The Sword – High Country

EE: With Low Country and High Country the band has gone through a bit of a sound change. Has this been a natural progression for the band with that change or was it thought out. The sound is still heavy but less palm muting, a bit more refined.

TS: It’s just dudes being dudes. We have always made the albums the way we wanted to hear them. There are no rules, just as long as it sounds good. I think a lot of people forget that we are making records that will have a potential legacy. Where you can look at everything, and see where it all fits in our discography. This album sounds like this and that album like this, you know. People act like those first two records don’t exist anymore. Like we deleted them or something. You can listen to them any time.

EE: I was reading today while refreshing up on the band and it was a quote from when your first album came out. You guys wrote this album, and people were asking you about it, and the response was, “It’s metal, and we are pushing the definition of what metal is.” I thought that was a really cool quote. I think people sometimes get hung up on the categorization of music and forget that this is for pleasure.

TS: When we started it out it was all Nu Metal and screaming vocals, and double kick drums. We were like the only metal band (American band at the period, there were many European bands doing it still) that kind of like, would sing.

Tears of Fire Hot Sauce

EE: You have put out a couple beers and a hot sauce. Can you tell us about the hot sauce first then about the beers?

TS: It’s super-hot! Super delicious! It’s made with ghost peppers. It was featured on Travel Channel’s No Reservations with Anthony Bordain. Like any good thing it starts as a joke. A guy from our record label at the time was like, ‘You should do a hot sauce.’ So we were like ok. It’s really our own recipe, not some stock sauce that we throw a label on and sell. It’s our own unique hot sauce and you can get here at the merch table for $10.00 or at Tearsofjoysauces.com.

EE: And the beers, one is made in Texas and the other in Maryland?

TS: We did two with Real Ale in Texas. The one is an English Pale, and the other is an Oatmeal Stout. The ones in Maryland we actually don’t have as much to do with from the recipe angle. They are all very fantastic beers. If we do something we make sure it is something that we are actually going to use or enjoy. We are not going to actually be like you know, Kiss. I love Kiss don’t get me wrong, but maybe we don’t have sell everything. I don’t think we need to make a Sword umbrella, I don’t know how many people would need one.

Kyle Shutt of The Sword live in Pittsburgh PA

EE: Back to Low Country, I know on the song ‘Early Snow’, the band utilized a horns section. You also use variety of other unconventional instruments on the album. What was the idea behind incorporating these instruments on this album; other than just saying, ok we are just going to do live percussion and acoustic guitars and bass.

TS: I think mainly this is because we wanted to break up the monotony of doing just the same thing on each song. After we did a few versions, it was all starting to sound the same. We wanted to spice up the mix. I think it’s a good companion piece because it’s not every song, but more like just little tidbits that hint on the kinds of songs we wrote on High Country. It was my initial idea going in, was that these are not rock songs, or metal songs; they are just songs.

EE: Over the last few days I was listening to both High Country and Low Country going back and forth, comparing one version to the other.

TS: (Kyle) One kid commented, ‘play both versions of Seriously Mysterious, if you play them on top of each other with the timing right they sync up.’ I was like, ‘That’s so rad I want to do that!’ Everything is the same tempo, so you could technically do that. If you wanted to DJ your own acoustic Sword mashup it is possible with the two different versions.

John D. Cronise of The Sword, Live in Pittsburgh, PA

EE: I like the Low Country versions a lot. It brings real warmth to the songs, with these new arrangements.

TS: When we started really doing the album that was the thing that really stuck out the most to me. It was like here is Seriously Mysterious this song that is tongue in cheek a little bit, in the sense that we were doing it. The whole title was a joke that I(Kyle) made, and then JD ended up writing a song called that and I was like, ‘oh Jesus, I have to watch what I say around him.’ His demo for it was kind of synth pop. One of my favorite bands Electric Six. They do all their albums very differently and the one album they did was all synthesizers, no drums, no guitars, all synths; and I really appreciated that approach to writing and I thought maybe we could try that maybe for one song. My rule was no guitars, no drums, all programmed. Then we got through it and one day in the studio I was like, ‘I think I hear a guitar part.’ So that’s why I just did a little solo in there. It just kind of did itself.

(Brian) Upon doing the acoustic version of that song, it was what really kind of brought, for me really how great of a track that actually was. Then from that moment, that was how I viewed the acoustic record. How can we take these songs (You know, we are a band about riffs) and how do you take the focus off of us, and push it right onto JD with his vocals, with the song that he created? It’s not like the lyrics are on the nose, it takes a little bit of thought, and half of it is creating this atmosphere for all of that. With a lot of the stuff I did for Low Country, would be like making a big part then taking it all away and then trying to figure out how best can I do this. The bass stuff is all synthesizer. I didn’t want to use an acoustic bass or an electric bass, it was kind of fitting with what we were doing with the album. It shall be keyboard based, fuck it why not. I felt by doing this it added to the atmosphere of the album. It also added to the nontraditional instrumentation of the record. Some of the percussion tracks Jimmy did were the slapping on the back of a guitar.

EE: I did hear that on the album. At first I was wondering was hearing bongos, but you can distinctly hear that warms of the wood on those strikes.

TS: We wanted to add elements like acoustic reggae stuff. Like folk with the beating on the guitar. Kind of like camp fire tunes and stuff like that.

EE: So where do you go from there?

TS: Well, that’s the cool thing we can now do whatever the fuck we want to do. That door has been opened. We’ve done opened it up completely. Now nothing is out of the question. We could do um… a record full of disco ballets and people would still talk shit.

You can catch The Sword out on tour now with Opeth as they are moving through the United States. Also Low Country was released on September 23^rd, be sure to give it a good listen. For more information on the band check out theswordofficial.com, or their Facebook for updates. EE wants to thank the band for this opportunity to speak with them and wishes them well while on tour. Thank you guys it was awesome!!

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George Archibald

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Interviews

EIHWAR COME TO BALTIMORE TO BRING THE VIKING WAR TRANCE

Published

5 days ago

August 20, 2026

Ron

IVE BEEN SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THE UPCOMING TOUR FOR EIHWAR. I FOUND THEM ON THE INTERNET AND THEY BLEW ME AWAY WITH THEIR VIKING/FOLK/PAGAN MUSIC MIXED WITH ELECTRONIC. EIHWAR WILL BE COMING TO THE RECHER IN TOWNSON MARYLAND ON AUGUST 30TH. EMPIRE EXTREME GOT TO ASK THE DUO A FEW QUESTIONS BEFORE THE SHOW.

ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT DOING YOUR FIRST AMERICAN TOUR? ANY AMERICAN THINGS OR PLACES YOU WANT TO EXPLORE?

ASRUNN: For now, I have to admit I’m still completely stunned. I’m not excited or imagining it yet at all. Right now, I feel like I’m about to go to a country that only exists in TV shows, so I’m still kind of wading through disbelief.

Once I’m actually there, though, I’ll probably start talking way too fast and way too loud, and I’ll want to go way too everywhere.

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN VIKING WAR TRANCE AS A GENRE OF MUSIC?

MARK: Viking War Trance is basically what happens when you mix Nordic folk influences, tribal rhythms, electronic music and something much more primitive and aggressive. We wanted music that makes you want to dance, fight and enter some kind of trance at the same time. So instead of trying to fit into an existing genre, we just called it Viking War Trance. And about the word “war”: it’s not a war against others, but a war against ourselves. Against our rigidity, our limiting beliefs, our fears. Victory is letting go.

WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT WHEN SEEING THE BAND LIVE?

MARK: Our concerts are much more physical than people sometimes expect from listening to the albums. We want people to dance, scream, jump, crowd surf and completely lose themselves for an hour. It’s somewhere between a concert, a rave and a pagan ritual, but with a lot of joy. “Joyful chaos” is the word that Asrunn often use.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE PLAYING HELLFEST AND WACKEN?

ASRUNN: It’s basically spending an entire hour on stage thinking, “Seriously, what the hell am I doing here? This makes absolutely no sense,” and then, the second it’s over, thinking, “Fuck, that was WAY TOO SHORT!”, hahahahaha!

In reality, it’s a mix of intense concentration and this explosion of joy inside when we manage to bring such a huge crowd into our madness with us. It’s as if, all of a sudden, we’re no longer men and women, but one human tribe, united by joy and raw energy.

HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR STYLE OF VIKING MUSIC AND IMAGE DIFFERS FROM OTHER VIKING AND FOLK METAL?

MARK: What sets us apart from folk metal is simply that we’re not metal. We don’t use distorted guitars or acoustic drums. As for pagan folk, I think the differences are pretty obvious too. Most pagan bands take a fairly ceremonial approach, resulting in atmospheric, ambient music. Some of them are even very serious. From our point of view, seriousness is a symptom of bad digestion. We prefer to fool around.

As for the peace you find in atmospheric ritual music, we don’t know much about it. Asrunn, our leader, is nothing like a priestess in a linen dress singing with butterflies in the forest. She’s living anger. Our music is joyful and brutal, primitive techno made to dance to until the end of the night.

The biggest difference is also, and perhaps above all, harmonic, in the musicological sense. With ancient instruments, it’s difficult to modulate frequently or to play every note in every octave. We use machines, and that gives us much more freedom to create melodies and chord progressions that evolve constantly and are far more pop-oriented than ancient instruments would normally allow.

DREAM TOUR: YOU CAN GO ON TOUR WITH ANY 2 OTHER BANDS, WHO DO YOU CHOOSE?

ASRUNN: MmmmdzgebhfugzFDBZueisfg that’s WAY too hard to choooooose HAAAAA! I’d say……….. NIN and… well, Sofia Isella, lately. She’s tooooooo good to be true.

MARK: The Prodigy and Peter Gabriel

FAVORITE GAME OF THRONES CHARACTER?

MARK: Don’t know, but I like the soundtrack.

ASRUNN: Bree Van De Kamp.

IF YOU COULD RESURRECT ONE HISTORIC VIKING WHO WOULD IT BE?

MARK: Honestly, my memories from that time aren’t clear enough for me to really know. But I was very fond of the monk Eadwig of Durham, and I’d be curious — and happy — to see him again.

ASRUNN: Lagertha, to prove to Mark that he’s wrong when he says she had bigger boobs than me.

IF YOU HAVEN’T BOUGHT UR TICKETS YET GET THEM HERE

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

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Interviews

INTERVIEW WITH KURT DEIMER

Published

4 months ago

May 8, 2026

Ron

EMPIRE EXTREME GOT TO INTERVIEW KURT DEIMER ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM “A GROG IS BORN” HIM WORKING WITH GEOFF TATE AND JOSH TODD AND BEING KILLED BY MICHAEL MEYERS AND HORROR MOVIES

About Author

Ron

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Empire Interviews

Inferious—Interview

Published

4 months ago

May 5, 2026

Josh Drespling

by Josh Drespling

I was at Preserving Underground to cover Filth and Resistor. I was all set with my photo pass and cameras at the ready. And then this young band exploded onto the stage. No grand entrance, no intro music, no flashy lights—just a wall of noise from the first guitar chord and a guttural growl that seemed to come from somewhere below the floorboards. I was blown away. Thoroughly impressed.

This band was Inferious, out of Dayton, Ohio. If you look up the word “inferious,” most dictionaries will tell you it means something low-status, submissive, or fit for sacrifice. But this Ohio metalcore outfit Inferious has spent the last several years proving that definition couldn’t be more wrong. Tonight in the basement of a converted church, Inferious delivered raw, sweat-soaked fury to all who were smart enough to show up early.

Before their set was even half over, I made up my mind that I had to talk to them and let our readers know about this band. Here is how it went:

Empire: This was the first time I have ever seen you guys. I’ve heard your name before but never had the chance to listen. The show tonight was freaking awesome. I loved it from the first few notes. The vocals and the guitar tone just hit ya right in the chest.

Since I am a new fan, can you give me the nickel tour of how you came together and I understand you are from Dayton, Ohio.

Shaun O’Shaughnessy – Guitarist: I live in Dayton, and the original band members all formed in Dayton, but it was kind of a collage of multiple band folks. People from the southwest Ohio area. Gabe [McQueen – vocals] and I were there at the beginning, and then through some line-up changes, this is our current and most solid touring line-up so far with Cody and Kyle. They also are from the area and have been in several bands. So they were always in the same circles, at the same shows, talking to the same people. It all worked out one day.

Empire: Given that, it seems like there is a healthy music scene in Dayton. Are there any good clubs, any fields to play in?

Shaun: It’s hard to say Dayton, Ohio, specifically so much as just southwest Ohio because of the way that Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati form like a little triangle. You’re only an hour apart from each other. So we can get into that larger music scene pretty easily. So Dayton itself has venues, but the whole collective area has stuff. There’s some house venues, like Gnome House, there’s Bob’s, but then Cincinnati has Madison Live, and Design Collective [DSGN CLLCTV] was doing shows for a while, but I think they got in trouble.
Cody: Yeah, it some code stuff.

Empire: I think there are a couple decent places in Akron, and even across the border is Huntington, WV?

Shaun: Yeah, that area still does have sick stuff. It’s just farther away from our personal local scene. Cleveland is kind of separate from us too.

Cody: That’s not necessarily our scene, but there is such a good underground local scene from the Huntington / Athens / Charleston area. Shout to Feverwar.

Shaun: We were just at the Grog Shop [outside Cleveland].

Cody: We were at the New Foundry not too long ago.

Empire: Oh, yeah, like upstairs?

Shaun: No, it is Foundry’s new location.

Empire: I’ve not been there.

Shaun: It looks basically like the old one, but it’s new.

Empire: You mentioned the Grog Shop. Were you guys there with Filth and Resistor?

Shaun: Yeah, we’ve been on tour with Filth and Resistor. The first half of the tour had Two-Piece on it; we missed them, but now Mono’s [Monochromatic Black] on for the second half, and they’re homies.

Gabe and I toured with them in Inferious a couple years ago with band called AMTAE, and Monochromatic Black. So, those are long-time homies as well. So, we’ve known Tanya [Elizabeth (Beickert) – Vocals] and Eddie [DeCesare – Drums] for a long time, and Pierce [Akers – Guitar] is our new best friend as well.

Empire: So, it’s just like a big hang for you guys.

Shaun: Yeah, all the homies are back. We’ve toured with Filth before too; we were out with them on the Oceano tour, and then actually a year ago, I think like right now, like today a year ago, we toured with Filth also. So, it’s Filth and Oceano, and then Filth again.

So, it’s been fun to have a full circle of friend hangs, and every night’s been sick. The show turnouts have been amazing, and then just hanging out with all our friends has been amazing.

Empire: That’s part of what makes it fun. Whether you have 50 people or 1000, you have that camaraderie and shared experience.

Empire: So do you currently have an album out? Where do you guys stand with that?

Gabe: We have music out everywhere, on all music platforms: Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and YouTube Music. Shit, if you even got to rip that shit, YouTube to MP4, do it, man!

Shaun: We got your back. We got three full lengths and an EP. We are working on a new EP with a label we’re signed to that we’ll announce here soon, but that’s going to be really exciting stuff, and just stoked to be able to get that out soon.

Empire: Cool. So don’t say the label name, but your deal is in place, and then the new album in the fall, winter, spring?

Shaun: Yeah, the EP should be coming out sometime this year, if all the schedules align and everything, but that’s in the works.

Empire: Cool. Filth tour, what’s after that?

Shaun: Finishing up the EP. Record release cycle, and then hopefully touring in support of that. Whether it’s co-headlining with somebody or doing some more support stuff, we’re down for whatever. Hopefully we can fill up the rest of the year.

You know, touring is hard financially, so while we’re able to still make ends meet on the road, it’s hard to pay all the bills, so we’ve got to go home, stack our bread back up, and then be ready to go back out again.

Empire: I understand. Is this your first time in Pittsburgh?

Shaun: We’ve actually played Preserving. This is at least the fifth time.

We played the DIY room, we played this room, this orientation, we played this room when it was facing the other direction. AJ, the owner, has been good to us. He is a rad dude.

Empire: AJ is great.

Shaun: The record shop and merch store upstairs is sick, I just bought a shirt, a Never Ending Game shirt, because we have to do a laundry soon, and I bought a shirt to extend one more day to get through.

Empire: Anything you guys want to add, anything going on? Shameless plugs?

Shaun: This has been a kind of sick tour, because I think we’ve all got to see family members. Gabe’s dad dropped him off, so we got to see Gabe’s dad. We got to go get breakfast with my mom and some family, I saw my aunt. Cody’s mom let us stay at her crib, and we got to hang out with her and his family. Kyle’s family came out last night and hung out, and that was pretty sick, so it’s been a good time.

Empire: Kyle hasn’t said anything, so tell me about your family coming out and seeing the show.

Kyle: I mean, it was my sister’s first time seeing us live.

Empire: What did she have to say? I mean, I’m sure she knew the style.

Kyle: Oh, yeah, she’s conditioned to it.

Empire: She’s not like a Britney Spears fan at a hardcore show?

Kyle: No, no, she’s by far not a normie, but close to it.

Empire: Thank you, gentlemen. That’s all I have today. Appreciate it, and thanks for the show. It was great; loved it.

Shaun: See you next time.

Before that night at Preserving Underground, I’ll be honest: Inferious was just a name on a show flyer. Another opening band before the acts I actually came to see.

That’s the thing about this level of heavy music. The headliners get the lights, the longer set, and the crowd that’s already warmed up. But the openers? They get twenty-five minutes, a soundcheck that barely counts, and a room full of people who are mostly looking at their phones. Inferious didn’t just overcome that. They incinerated it.

What struck me most, sitting down with Shaun, Gabe, Cody, and Kyle after the show, was how unpretentious they were. No egos. No rock-star posturing. Just four guys from southwest Ohio who’ve been grinding in the same circles, playing the same basement venues, and slowly building something real. They talked about the small venues with the same reverence other bands reserve for stadiums. They shouted out Feverwar. They bought merch from the shop upstairs to make it through one more day on the road.

That’s the part you don’t see from the crowd. The financial grind. The van trouble. The “stack our bread back up” reality of modern touring. And yet, here they were—genuinely stoked to have seen family members at shows, genuinely grateful for AJ at Preserving keeping the doors open for underground bands, and genuinely excited about an upcoming EP they couldn’t even name the label for yet.

Inferious may have a name that suggests something low-status, something sacrificial. But after watching them level a converted church in New Kensington, and after listening to them talk about their scene with the easy confidence of people who have nothing to prove, I think the definition needs an update.

Check them out on all the streaming platforms. Catch them when they roll through your town on the next tour. And for the love of God, show up early.

You never know which opening band is going to blow your doors off.

About Author

Josh Drespling

Josh is the Publisher and creator of Empire Extreme and it’s sister publication Kingdom Extreme Magazine. He is an accomplished writer, photographer and graphic designer. He is always conjuring up new ideas and has a amazing passion for the music industry and all the things that surround it.

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