Apocryphon (album)

Following the release of critically successful third album Warp Riders in August 2010, The Sword embarked on the worldwide Warp Riders Tour in October. Early into the first leg, original drummer Trivett Wingo left the band, claiming to be "physically and emotionally unable to continue",[1][2] and was replaced for the entirety of the rescheduled tour by local musician Kevin Fender.[3][4] As he was only a temporary touring member of the band, Fender was later replaced permanently with drummer Santiago "Jimmy" Vela III, who was brought in at the end of 2011 for a run of tour dates.[5][6]

In March 2012, it was announced that The Sword had left Kemado Records and signed a worldwide deal with New York-based independent label Razor & Tie.[7] The news also came with the first mention of a follow-up to Warp Riders, which it was predicted would be recorded starting in June, with a planned release before the end of the year.[7] At their few shows in June, the group performed new songs from the upcoming album for the first time, including "Veil" (later renamed "The Veil of Isis"),[8] "Execrator",[8][9] and title track "Apocryphon".[8]

Recording for Apocryphon commenced in June 2012 at Magpie Cage Studios, owned by producer and engineer J. Robbins.[10] The recording process – which was completed mostly with analog equipment – spanned approximately five weeks, with the album completed and ready to be mixed by the end of July.[11] Speaking about the decision to work with Robbins, guitarist Kyle Shutt has explained that the group were attracted to the producer's work with stoner rock band Clutch on their albums Robot Hive/Exodus and Strange Cousins from the West, describing the choice as a "no-brainer" to produce an album with an "energetic sound".[11]

The first details of the album were revealed on June 5, 2012, amongst which was the title Apocryphon.[10] Speaking about the title of the album, Kyle Shutt has explained the meaning of the word as being about "secret writings or secret teachings about things that maybe shouldn't be known", revealing that it was chosen (by frontman J. D. Cronise)[11] as a metaphor to "mask what [the band are] really going through".[12] Cronise himself has explained that "The word apocryphon came up while I was researching Gnosticism, early Christianity, theosophy, and other esoteric subjects", describing the term as referring to "books that were either banned or removed from the biblical canon".[17]

The artwork for the album, which was produced by comic book artist J. H. Williams III, was officially unveiled on September 10, 2012.[19]

Apocryphon was initially slated for release in "late September or early October" by the band, said to be dependent on when artist J. H. Williams III completed the album cover.[13] The official release date of October 22 was revealed in late August,[20] with the regional release dates revealed a week later.[21] The album was released in a number of formats and merchandise bundles, including a CD with T-shirt and poster,[22] an LP with digital download,[23] and a bundle including CD, LP, cassette, digital download, T-shirt, and autographed poster.[24] The Sword will tour in promotion of Apocryphon for "at least two years",[11] starting with a North American tour from October to December 2012.[21][25]

The first song to be unveiled from Apocryphon was opening track "The Veil of Isis", which was made available for streaming online on September 25, 2012;[18] this was followed by title track "Apocryphon", for which an official lyric video produced by P. R. Brown was released on October 1.[26][27] The band began a new marketing campaign in October, whereby fans could unlock streams of tracks from the album by arranging symbols featured on the album cover in the correct order.[28] An official music video for "The Veil of Isis" was later released in November 2012.[29]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100[30]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic[14]
Alternative Press[31]
Consequence of Sound[32]
Loudwire[15]
PopMatters[33]
The Vancouver Sun[16]
Ultimate Guitar Archive[34]	8.3/10

Upon its release, the critical reception for Apocryphon was mainly positive. Writing a four-star review for the website AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia praised many elements of the album, including the musical compositions and the lyrical themes, concluding his review by explaining that "Apocryphon basically sees The Sword inching its well-established aesthetic along, slowly but surely; cautiously dabbling in new sounds rather than drastically altering their direction ... operating less timidly and with more satisfying results than anything released since that classic first album [Age of Winters]".[14] Loudwire reviewer Chad Bowar was similarly positive, dubbing it the band's best album to date,[15] while Francois Marchand of The Vancouver Sun compared the album positively to predecessor Warp Riders, describing it as "tailor-made for headbanging and slamming back cans of cheap beer ... a lot of fun".[16]

In its first week Apocryphon sold nearly 17,000 copies in the United States, debuting at number 17 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart (the highest position achieved by the band).[35] The album has sold 62,000 copies in the US as of July 2015.[36]