The Sword’s brand new album, Gods of the Earth, debuted at #102 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in its first week of release.

Gods of the Earth also debuted at #1 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” chart, #1 on Billboard’s “New Artist” chart and at #5 on Billboard’s “Tastemakers” chart. The follow up to the Austin, TX-based band’s 2006 debut, Age of Winters, Gods of the Earth was released via Kemado Records and has met to scads of critical acclaim in the weeks leading up to its April 1 release.

On the heels of the band’s Billboard debut, The Sword has announced summer, 2008 tour dates with the legendary Metallica. The influential metal band has called The Sword, “one of our favorite bands of the last few years,” (source: Metallica.com) and hand-picked the explosive quartet to open for it on a slew of European live dates, beginning July 16 in Bergen, Norway. Joining Metallica and The Sword on the tour will be New Orleans’ Down.

The Sword’s brand new music video – for the powerhouse track “Maiden, Mother & Crone” – also makes its world premiere today via MTV2’s “Headbangers Blog”. The magnetic clip was directed by Artificial Army (The Mars Volta, Coheed and Cambria) and can be viewed now at this location. The “Maiden, Mother & Crone” video will see its world television premiere this Saturday, April 12 as part of the network’s long-running “Headbangers Ball” program.

Additionally, The Sword will perform as one of the featured artists of the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival, set to take place June 12-15 in Manchester, TN. Known for showcasing “some of the best performers in rock and roll, along with dozens of artists in complementary styles,” Bonnaroo 2008 will see The Sword perform alongside Metallica, Sigur Ros, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Raconteurs, M.I.A., Willie Nelson and more. A full listing of upcoming The Sword live dates follows this message.

The Sword features guitarist/vocalist J.D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Trivett Wingo.

Updated The Sword news and tour information will be made available via the Kemado Records website, THE SWORD web domain and The Sword Myspace page and the ACTION! PR website.

To check out the Gods of the Earth E-card, featuring “Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians,” visit this location.

The Sword tour dates:

U.S. “Gods of the Earth” west coast tour (with support from Slough Feg and Children)

April 14 Lubbock, Texas Jake’s Sports Center
April 16 Phoenix, Arizona The Brickhouse
April 17 San Diego, California The Casbah
April 18 Los Angeles, California El Rey Theatre
April 19 San Francisco, California Slim’s
April 21 Pan Portland, Oregon Berbati’s
April 22 Seattle, Washington Neumo’s
April 24 Boise, Idaho Neurolux
April 25 Salt Lake City, Utah Club Vegas
April 26 Denver, Colorado Bluebird Theatre
April 28 Wichita, Kansas BarleyCorns
April 29 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Conservatory
U.S. “Gods of the Earth” east coast tour (with support from Torche and Stinking Lizaveta)

May 9 Ft Worth TX Lola’s
May 10 Memphis TN Hi Tone
May 11 Nashville TN Exit / In
May 12 Covington KY The Mad Hatter
May 13 Detroit MI The Magic Stick
May 14 Columbus OH Ravari Room
May 15 Washington DC Rock and Roll Hotel
May 16 Philadelphia PA First Unitarian Church
May 17 Brooklyn NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 18 Cambridge MA Middle East Downstairs
May 20 Raleigh NC Lincoln Theater
May 21 Savannah GA The Jinx
May 22 Tallahassee FL The Beta Bar
May 23 St. Petersburg FL State Theatre
May 24 Orlando FL The Social
May 25 Gainesville FL Common Grounds
May 26 Atlanta GA Lenny’s
May 27 Birmingham AL Bottle Tree
May 28 Baton Rouge LA Spanish Moon
May 29 Houston TX Rudyard’s
June 12-15 Manchester, TN 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival

METALLICA / DOWN / THE SWORD European Tour

July 16 Bergen, Norway Koengen

July 18 St. Petersburg Russia – SKK Hall

July 20 Riga, Latvia Skonto Stadium

July 22 Bologna, Italy Parco Nord

July 23 Bucharest, Romania Cotroceni (no DOWN)

July 25 Sofia, Bulgaria Vasil Levski Stadium