{"id":17973,"date":"2014-03-12T00:01:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T00:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=17973"},"modified":"2014-03-12T11:04:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T11:04:59","slug":"album-review-the-oath-the-oath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-the-oath-the-oath\/","title":{"rendered":"THE OATH – The Oath (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE OATH
The Oath<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nRise Above (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

There may be those of you who are sick to death of hearing all this occult-influenced, female-fronted doom-laden rock, but The Oath might just change your mind. If you like your metal mystical yet above all heavy then you need to own the debut album from this quartet Berlin-based quartet, who propelled to giddy esoteric stratospheres by featuring the duo of the Swedish Linn\u00e9a Olsson (guitar) and the German Johanna Sadonis (vocals). <\/p>\n

Admittedly, when all thrown in a hat, The Oath, alongside say Purson, Blood Ceremony et al, are not greatly different, but they all deserve their place in the occult rock scene because the noises they make will creep through your ears like liquid gold. <\/p>\n

Yes, Sadonis is another devotee to the Jefferson Airplane school of rock in the sense that her soaring, eerie vocals are akin to Grace Slick, and as The Oath like to dabble in a touch of doomy psychedelia, it\u2019s no shock that the comparisons will continue. However, with all manner of Jefferson Airplane-influenced bands doing their tricks over the years, there\u2019s no real reason why bands should stray from a well-trodden path when the formula works. On this much anticipated nine-track affair, The Oath get it right. <\/p>\n

Rise Above Records are masters at promoting such bands, but do The Oath have enough in the septic tank (in-joke!) to enable them to rise above (\u2018scuse the pun!) the masses? Well, this debut platter, which also boasts the talents of bassist Simon Bouteloup and drummer Andrew Prestidge, is certainly an album that will attract the masses who will be eager for a glimpse into this crystal ball of creativity. <\/p>\n

From the off we have the majestic melancholy of \u2018All Must Die\u2019, which clambers out of its coffin like the bastard son of Mot\u00f6rhead-meets-Black Sabbath<\/a> with a touch of Hawkwind thrown in for good measure. I\u2019ve no doubt that The Oath have trawled the ancient scriptures of Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) teachings to construct a black mass of a sound that is as much Candlemass as it is Deep Purple with just about every other important band in-between, and while there is such an air of familiarity in the formula, one cannot help but become bewitched by Johanna Sadonis\u2019s enchanting yet deadly tones, which are ghost-like as they float upon the black clouds through the stark trees. <\/p>\n

Ominous throughout, \u2018All Must Die\u2019 is the perfect way for this coven to introduce themselves to us, and the creepy combo get ever stronger. \u2018Silk Road\u2019 is equally evocative, marrying the sinister with the dreamy before the first single \u2018Night Child\u2019 comes rolling in like creaking thunder with that sexual vocal lick and catchy riff. Yep, it\u2019s rather generic; lacking the diversity of say Purson, it acts merely as another occult-obsessed Hammer Horror vibe, evoking images of cavorting vampires, frolicking witches and lapping flames. It is good stuff, but nothing new. <\/p>\n

And of course the murk continues, through \u2018Leaving Together\u2019, \u2018Black Rainbow\u2019 (which appeared as the flip to \u2018Night Child\u2019) and the shadowy closer \u2018Psalm 7\u2019, which all remind me of the first time I heard Danzig\u2019s pitch black self-titled debut album (1988). <\/p>\n

Oily riffs, leather-winged bass and ghoulish drums are all thrown into the cauldron, and the result is an extremely likeable and accessible record that creaks and moans like an old haunted house and provides thrills where necessary. Steeped in melody and folkloric history, the debut offering from The Oath is one that\u2019ll have worshippers crowding the very gates of Hell, eager for a nibble on the fleshy nodules of the quartet. A little more diversity wouldn\u2019t go amiss though, as Rise Above\u2019s latest cult seeks new members.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE OATHThe Oath Rise Above (2014)Rating: 8\/10 There may be those of you who are sick to death of hearing all this occult-influenced, female-fronted doom-laden rock, but The Oath might just change your mind. If you like your metal mystical yet above all heavy then you need to own the debut album from this quartet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-the-oath"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17973"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17976,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17973\/revisions\/17976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}