Band:	Dark Oath
Album:	Ages Of Man
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	January 2024

01. Gold I (Dawn Of Time)
02. Gold II (Fall Of Time)
03. Silver I (A New King)
04. Silver II (Life Of Sorrow And Pain)
05. Bronze I (Stolen Flame)
06. Bronze II (Raging Waters)
07. Heroic I (Sons Of Gods And Mortal Men)
08. Heroic II (Elysian Fields)
09. Iron (Through The Veil Of Night)

‘Symphonic folk melodeath’ is a genre fusion that, by its very being, carries expectations of bombast and extravagance. Dark Oath ensure to deliver with abundance on that front.

Dark Oath originate from Portugal, but thus far their lyrical inspiration has come from further afield. 2016’s debut record Where Fire Engulfs The Earth, like so many folk and melodeath albums, found its influence in Norse mythology; on their long-awaited sophomore release, the group headed south to Greece, and to the work of ancient poet Hesiod, in crafting the five-part Ages Of Man. The music that traverses these five ages is as majestic and mythical as such ancient subject matter deserves.

If, like they are to myself, Dark Oath are a new name to you, a useful point of reference for their style comes in a very similar release from last year: Foretoken’s Triumphs. Like Ages Of Man, Triumphs featured lively, dramatic symphonic melodeath bombast; where Dark Oath have an edge on Foretoken, however, is in the sheer memorability of the music on this new release. The group can unleash the full-pelt hectic sound that Foretoken often opted for on their album (see the relentless “Bronze II (Raging Waters)” for a shining example), but more often, they dial back the pace in favor of an approach that allows the epic sonic vistas and charming folksy melodies to really come to the fore.

First off, it’s fair to state that, if one were to listen to this album without access to lyrics or song titles, they could easily be convinced that this record continued the Norse focus of the debut; in spite of the shift in theme, the music on Ages Of Man sounds incredibly Nordic. There are Mediterranean and Middle Eastern musical flairs to parts of the album (see, for example, “Heroic I (Sons Of Gods And Mortal Men)”), but the record in general exhibits a greater affinity for folk/extreme power acts such as Ensiferum and Wintersun, as well as other Finnish melodeath like Wolfheart and Insomnium.

However, Dark Oath don’t strongly resemble any of the aforementioned groups; there is the symphonic grandeur and expansiveness of Time I, but with more concise and immediately gratifying writing, and there’s folksy melody, but it doesn’t dominate the songwriting as much as it does in Ensiferum’s writing. Additionally, while Dark Oath use the tremolo riffing of Insomnium and feature some of Wolfheart’s melancholic richness, the tracks are too lively and vibrant to be easily confused with either of those two groups. Additionally, Sara Leitão’s screamed-only vocal approach means that the melody comes purely from the instrumentation.

Ages Of Man is the kind of record that you will enjoy front-to-back or not at all; there’s not much in the way of deviation from that core dramatic sound, with the only real variation coming from shifts between middling and fast tempos. Still, with a sound this intrinsically stirring and entertaining, there’s little need for diversity. It’s also a record that is pretty consistent in terms of quality; there’s no notable dip in enjoyment value across the runtime. If one were to pick out highlight songs, one might perhaps opt for the dopamine hit of lively melody and rich, grand sound on “Gold II (Fall Of Time)”, but that same description would also apply to the similarly majestic “Silver II (Life Of Sorrow And Pain)”. Perhaps the track that stands out the most is the closer, “Iron (Through The Veil Of Night)”, due to the special guest vocal feature from Fleshgod Apocalypse’s Paolo Rossi; his passionate, soaring clean vocals work perfectly in accentuating the impact of the rousing double bass-laden segments in which he appears during this epic closer.

Ages Of Man really is just such an epic-sounding release; that is ‘epic’ in a ‘cheesy’ way, so if such fantastical flamboyance isn’t your cup of tea, you can safely pass, but those with a taste for such bombast are likely to find a lot to enjoy in Ages Of Man. Dark Oath have started 2024 off with a record that will doubtless feature in discussions of the year’s best melodeath come the end of December.