The Sword

Austin, Texas heavy rockers the Sword make albums with covers that looks like '70s sci-fi novels. It's latest, High Country, casts aside the heavy metal solos and focuses on bluesy riffs, sounding a bit like Zeppelin trading in its Tolkien references for the heady, futuristic allsuions of Rush. Asimov-obsessed stoners will eat it up—the deluxe version of the LP came with a stash box and rolling papers (no, seriously).