Liquid Swords
Liquid Swords released in 1995, a solo album side project from Wu-Tang Clan founding member GZA. This was the route most of them went after the success of the group’s first album 36 Chambers. No one missed. RZA, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah — they all released solo albums in the years following 36 Chambers, and they’re all regarded anywhere from great to incredible.
None rub elbows with the praise of “masterpiece” and “all-time classic” and “one of the most influential hip-hop records ever” like Liquid Swords, though. GZA described the flow and feel of the album by saying “I’m trying to make it more visual. Liquid Swords is a concept of being lyrically sharp, flowing like liquid metal — mercury, y’know? It comes from this flick, Legend of the Liquid Sword, where people would get their head cut off but it would still be on their shoulders. No one else would notice, because the sword was so sharp. Wu-Tang is a sword style, and this here is the sharpest. I’d rather slip on the pavement than slip on my tongue.”
A former Avalanche Studios head either named his new studio after an iconic Wu-Tang album or after a mid-90s Hong Kong comedy. As announced on Facebook, Avalanche founder and Just Cause creator Christofer Sundberg has opened Liquid Swords in Stockholm. He’s sticking with what he knows, as Sundberg says Liquid Swords will focus on “open-world action and explosions.” It’s rare that explosions play a key role in a company’s mission statement.
While over-the-top spectacle and player freedom are pillars, Sundberg wants everyone to know that “Liquid Swords is a business, not a playground for aimless ideas. Our swords are sharpened, our mission is set and we could not be more excited about what the future holds.”
Scratch “Just Cause guy reinvents Just Cause while referencing Wu-Tang” off your 2020 bingo card. I threw my bingo card out the window a long time ago. This shit’s too hard to predict. I guess we could’ve seen Sundberg revisiting what made Just Cause 2 so popular. He’s got a method, man.
Liquid Swords [Facebook]
