Barbaric Oath – Sword, Sorcery, Vengeance (Blackened Eldritch Fantasy Metal)
I’ve recently been delving into medieval wargaming, and what more of a perfect soundtrack for slaying mounted knights with halberds than this absolute trebuchet to the face that is Sword, Sorcery, Vengeance by what should become one of the greatest bands of the eldritch approach, Barbaric Oath! Enter the battlefield! If deficient in a slaying field, instead pick up thy dice, thy boards, thy games! Play out the roles, revel in the fog-covered mountains of Hyperboria, back to a time when B-level fantasy rang true on CRT TVs from much-worn VHS! Summon the tales of old and rape the lands of all purity! The battle is here!
Ferocious is a word probably overused, but what else can one say when dealing with an act such as Barbaric Oath? This is a band that begs the question as to whether human beings are actually brutes. From their high school notebook cover artwork style to the short, menacing work they create, chock full of 1980s B-fantasy filth, there probably is no better descriptive. Calling upon all the power of animated skeleton hordes, crossbow bolts on fire, rusted, yet sharpened swords, and damsels in need of a saving from hordes of lusting, robe-bedecked spellcasters, Sword, Sorcery, Vengeance brings together the most primal in metal with the most epic of themes. One of the strongest points of this release is the ceaseless riff battering without the chaotic noise that many bands like this lean upon. Barbaric Oath makes their melodies ring like clashing steel, or perhaps better to say steel through bone. And the vocals? Ah, yes, their chambered and caustic bite adds just the perfect level of inhuman terror to make this short release uncompromising and probably canon. To paraphrase one of the samples you’ll find within, this will make you a man ready to create seed that will birth a god.
Barbaric Oath Official Instagram
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Barbaric Oath – Sword, Sorcery, Vengeance
Caligari Records
Cover Art: Jack Sabbat
4.6 / 5
