Band:	Ceremonial Oath
Album:	The Book Of Truth
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	1993
Guest review by:	ylside

01. Sworn To Avenge
02. The Invocator
03. For I Have Sinned - The Praise
04. Enthroned
05. Only Evil Prevails
06. Thunderworld
07. Lords Of Twilight
08. Ceremonial Oath
09. The Lost Name Of God
10. The Book Of Truth
11. Hellbound

I first discovered Ceremonial Oath with the wrong release (Carpet...) so up to some months ago the only opinion I had about this band is that it is your standard Gothenburg metal album with your standard double guitar system and everything you already know from an average Gothenburg album,. In fact, Carpet is the perfect Average Gothenburg album.

Anyway, after some time I decided to go look for their first release, The Book Of Truth that is. And, well, it has nothing to do with Carpet at all. AT ALL. This album is some serious melodic Death Metal (Sweden's trademark) with anything you would enjoy if you're a proper Swedish death metal fan: powerful distortion; good and catchy rhythms; great vocals done by Oscar Dronjak (Who actually also played guitars in this album and is holding the same duty now for Hammerfall); and also a lot of mid-paced melodic lead solos done by him that fit the songs perfectly. This man proved that he can handle good death metal growls and still create some nice and catchy guitar lines. That is in fact the only thing that seems a little bit curious to me concerning this album (Dronjak who went to Hammerfall after that is). There is a certain atmospheric feeling in some songs that really enhances the overall feeling of this album and doesn't handicap it as some can think it will do for a death metal album. Other than that, fans of The Red In The Sky Is Ours by At The Gates will really enjoy The Book Of Truth, most guitar/bass lines are quite the same to that At The Gates' album.

I really recommend this release for all Swedish Death Metal fans, for it fulfills everything we need for an album of that genre. It's not as well-known and acknowledged as Entombed or other famous albums but it is really worthy of your attention. Too bad most people associate Ceremonial Oath with their second album that took a different direction that The Book Of Truth.