Austin, Texas heavy metal rockers The Sword have shared a thumping, sludgy cover of Rush’s 1974 classic, “Working Man.” The cover comes as the third and final installment of the group’s 3-song mini-series Conquest of Quarantine series, which they’ve been working on while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cover is much heavier than the original and sees the Austin band put their signature heavy drumming and thrashy riffs on the new track.

Discussing how the band arrived at covering the iconic track from Rush, bassist Bryan Richie says, “In the early 2000s we were given a CD by one of [guitarist Kyle Shutt’s] record store buddies with SLUSH scrawled across it and little did we know what a wild ride awaited us. This dude had taken his favorite Rush songs and dropped the pitch control on his record player as low as it would go – taking these classic RUSH tracks and turning them into a C standard sludge fest with the most air drumable drums!! Does it doom? Heck yes it does. Enjoy our cover of the classic RUSH track “Working Man” with a Slush’y spin.”

According to a press release, “The Conquest of Quarantine lockdown session marks the group’s first live performances together since the band went on hiatus in 2018. Rolling out a track a week over the last 3 weeks, the first track showed the band putting their own inimitable spin on the T-Rex classic, “Children of the Revolution”. The second track, a rendition of their mammoth hit “Winter’s Wolves” from their debut album “Age Of Winters”, premiered last week.”

The band originally formed in 2003 and is currently comprised of John D. Cronise (vocals, guitar), Kyle Shutt (guitar), Bryan Ritchie (bass) and Santiago “Jimmy” Vela III (drums). Veterans of the heavy metal scene, the band has released six studio albums including 2008’s Gods of the Earth, which reached number 102 on the Billboard 200 chart.

“Working Man” was released on Rush’s self-titled debut album in 1974. Now revered by many as one of the best rock songs ever, the song’s guitar solo was voted number 94 in Guitar World magazine’s list of the 100 greatest solos.

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat