REVIEW: The Sword, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Moon Destroys at The Bowery Ballroom | 10.14.2025
After taking a two-year hiatus, doom metal legends The Sword have returned to reclaim their spot on the throne. But before the band charts their path forward, they’re taking a moment to look back — fifteen years, to be exact — to the release of their 2010 concept album Warp Riders. In celebration of its decade-and-a-half anniversary, the band announced a tour where they’d play the album in full.
After the initial run of dates was met with overwhelming excitement, the band extended the tour to a second leg, which included a stop at Manhattan’s historic Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday night for a sold-out performance. Joining them on the tour were Moon Destroys and Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, both of whom I was seeing for the first time.
On a personal note, I found it kind of surreal that 2010 was also the year I moved to New York City — and the very first show I ever attended here was at the Bowery Ballroom. That connection made me recognize just how long fifteen years can be. I can only imagine what that stretch of time feels like in band years.
Anyway, Moon Destroys was up first. Their name is an apt description of their effect on the brain, as they sent me to outer space while detonating waves of distortion. The songs were crushingly heavy, and the band played as if they felt every note — demanding that the audience feel it too.
Vocalist Charlie Suárez wide-eyed delivery commanded the crowd, who were as hooked as I was from the start. At one point, a few people began blowing bubbles, adding an even more cosmic atmosphere to the room.
Suárez ended the set crouched down, grinning toward the sky, holding a wall of noise with the rest of the band before suddenly striking one final chord that made me jump and caught me off guard in the best way.
Speaking of names, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol had me won over before they even took the stage. With a name like that, you know a good time’s ahead — and how right that assumption was.
They were pure fun. Their lyrics may be humorous, but they’re seriously heavy. Despite some technical hiccups, they refused to be held back — their energy radiating through the room, pulling the crowd into synchronized headbanging.
You could feel a mosh pit brewing, and when they launched into “1-800-EAT-SHIT,” the dam finally broke. Chaos erupted, the pit was launched, a lone crowd surfer rose above the pit — and then quickly realized that with no barricade, there was nowhere left to go.
After having such amazing acts that brought more than enough energy, a band like The Sword is the only act that could follow while continuing to raise the bar, and that’s exactly what they did.
I’d been curious about the fact I’d gone most of the evening without even a distant scent of cannabis in the air. I soon realized it was because everyone was waiting for The Sword to stamp their toke ticket and board a train to the cosmos. As soon as the house lights went down, I took a whiff and thought to myself, “Ah, there it is.”
Cannabis-infused or not, the experience of a live performance by The Sword is a captivating ride. Opening with “Empty Temples” from their 2015 album High Country, The Sword treated fans to a selection of songs touching on multiple albums from their back catalogue before offering a rendition of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” to the delight of the crowd.
And then, it was time for Warp Riders.
I love album playthroughs. It’s an amazing thing to get to experience the journey you’ve taken so many times through your earbuds and then stand right in front of the band and experience the journey through your earplugs (earplugs really are a must, kids).
“Acheron/Unearthing the Orb” was the perfect way to start the ride. The instrumental track got heads banging and drew cheers at every turn, the excitement building to a dancing energy when “Tres Brujas” counted in on the snare. The album was in full swing.
Every song was met with excitement, and even after “Farstar” was played to tape after the band finished the album and left the stage, the crowd demanded just a little bit more. The Sword were happy to oblige with a two-song encore to end the evening.
The Warp Riders anniversary tour continues across the U.S. through the fall, with stops in cities like Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles before wrapping up on November 23 in Austin, Texas — fittingly, The Sword’s hometown. If the New York show was any indication, these dates are not to be missed.
MOON DESTROYS
RICKSHAW WILLIE'S BURGER PATROL
THE SWORD