Crispy in our guild plays sword spec alot. Total damage is comparable, and the burst is pretty nuts. I believe it performs best when coupled with a sham though where axe does well all on its own. The reasoning is that the extra hit from wf can actually proc the sword spec. It is very rng based so imagine an Enh sham wearing plate, and not being mana dependent. I would say try sword spec. It is always easy to scoop up and Exe cleaver from AH and switch to axes if you feel the need for change.