I don't know who else knows, but I'd like to share some information I found and haven't seen listed.
In Symphony of the Night the Icebrand and Thunderbrand can deal an extra hit of damage before the "elemental burst" however the charge up damage before the swing is far less obvious than with the Firebrand. For the Icebrand you need to be in fist range or perhaps even closer I tested on some weaker enemies and they took damage and died before the sword was swung. For the Thunderbrand you need to stand under the enemy a little to where the lightning that hits the sword will touch the target I saw this happen against the Spectral Sowrd enemies.
If this is already known, sorry for the waste of time.