Boise electronic music group Magic Sword has surprise-released Badlands, a new soundtrack album streaming on DSPs via Joyful Noise Recordings. Conceived as a sort-of solo album for Magic Sword member The Keeper, the music on Badlands is a departure from Magic Sword’s trademark “synthwave” sound and reminiscent of artists like John Carpenter and Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson. Over the course of Badlands’ 21 tracks, The Keeper embarks on a righteous quest to navigate a corrupt world where the sword has been abducted by an evil most foul. Amid the conflict, he seeks to find himself and reclaim what is rightfully his.
Badlands is available via all streaming platforms. A limited edition 7” lathe-cut of the single “The Ending” is available now from the Joyful Noise Recordings website and at Magic Sword’s Spring 2023 tour dates.
Magic Sword tour dates (all dates with TWRP)
4/17 Nashville, TN – The Basement East
4/18 Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
4/19 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
4/21 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
4/22 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
4/24 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
4/25 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
4/27 Columbus, OH – The Athenaeum Theatre
4/28 Indianapolis, IN – Hi-FI
4/29 Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme
5/1 Chicago, IL – Metro
5/2 Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
5/4 Denver, CO – Meow Wolf Denver | Convergence Station
5/5 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
5/7 Boise, ID – The Knitting Factory
5/8 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
5/9 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
5/11 Eugene, OR – WOW Hall
5/12 Sacramento, CA – Harlow’s
5/13 Berkeley, CA – Cornerstone Craft Beer & Live Music
5/15 San Diego, CA – Music Box
5/16 Las Vegas, NV – 24 Oxford
5/17 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
5/18 Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
Magic Sword Origin Epic
Magic Sword is an ageless tale of good and evil told through an ever-expanding graphic novel with each volume accompanied by an original, synth-heavy soundtrack as well as immersive live performances. With the three mediums intertwined from conception, together they create an epic experience for those bold enough to bear witness and come away with a deeper understanding of the ultimate hero’s journey. Armed with a musical and visual aesthetic that has its roots unabashedly buried deep in the golden era of ‘70s and ‘80s fantasy and sci-fi, Magic Sword’s followers are called to another plane of existence where the struggle between light and shadow becomes all too real. In this newest installment, The Keeper embarks on a righteous quest to navigate a corrupt world where the sword has been abducted by an evil most foul. Amid the conflict, he seeks to find himself and reclaim what is rightfully his ‘Badlands.’ Originally composed as a soundtrack to a feature film, ‘Badlands’ tells the story of loss and rediscovery of one’s self.
The Immortals are:
The Keeper of the Magic Sword – red, keyboards
The Seer of All Truths – blue, guitar
The Weaver of all Hearts and Souls – yellow, drums
The Immortals give a direct account of their vision: “In the beginning, there was light… and darkness. A creation of perfect balance. As time passed, evil spread over the land like a plague, slowly consuming everything in its path. In the final moments before light was lost to the shadow for all time, a weapon of infinite power was created, the Magic Sword. Thus, restoring balance to the universe. The genesis of things are often small. As the single seed grows to a mighty oak, so too did the path of the Keeper begin as a single choice in an age long past. Once a humble king, they were manipulated into unknowingly unleashing the Dark One.All of reality was torn asunder as the Lord of Shadow was released from their ancient prison, having been bound only by the power contained within the Magic Sword.
From that day forth, the King was cursed to be the immortal Keeper of this powerful key. He has been relentlessly compelled for millennia to find the Chosen One who will one day unleash the true power of the weapon and cannot rest until the grand design is seen complete with the Darkness bound once again. Little is known of The Lord of Shadow but death and decay. Since the release from his ancient prison by the hapless Keeper of the Magic Sword, he has pulled all of existence slowly toward himself in a vortex of darkness and destruction. Any wayward soul that he touches is corrupted to their ultimate demise. He uses his followers, acolytes of death, with no more regard than any other, for his reason of being is simply to end all things. Ensuingly, the forces of good have been searching for the Light to push him back into his eternal prison. The key to operating this cell is the Magic Sword; when wielded by the Chosen One, it has the power to return balance to the Universe.
The Keeper of the Magic Sword searches endlessly for the Chosen One. With the help of the other Immortals, The Seer of All Things and The Weaver of Hearts and Minds, they are ever trying to stem the tide of the Great Shadow from engulfing all life. Through time and space itself, The Immortals are pulled by the power of the Magic Sword to those who hunger for true justice. Whenever the need is great, they appear with the Magic Sword and a high-stakes proposition for those who are pure of heart, perpetually hoping that their search is finally over. This prophesied being contains the ability to wield the power of the Magic Sword and seal the prison that holds Dark One for all eternity. Only then will The Keeper, The Seer, and The Weaver be able to rest. Until the chosen one is revealed, the search continues in this realm and many others throughout all of time and space. In what form will the Magic Sword manifest? Who is the Chosen One? Will it be you? Answers will reveal themselves as the need arises. A tale of high adventure as old as time itself.”
