Band:	Blind Oath
Album:	Blind Oath
Style:	Heavy metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	March 17, 2023
A review by:	nikarg

01. Invocation
02. Emerald Assault
03. Spectral Attack
04. The Ride Of Eleanor
05. The Visitor
06. Blind Oath
07. Tombs Of The Blind Oath
08. Fascinatrix
09. The Flame [feat. Tim Baker & Russell Moore]
10. Black School

Blind Oath were born when five metal fans that had devoted their lives to booking, hosting, and travelling to see live shows of some of metal’s great ones met with their heroes in Night Demon, Manilla Road, and Cirith Ungol. They teamed up with Horton Records, a non-profit music label based in Oklahoma and dedicated to promoting Tulsa area artists, and this is how great metal underground stories are written.

If you enjoyed Bewitcher’s Cursed Be Thy Kingdom as much as I did, do not miss this debut. It is not a game changer, and it doesn’t need to, if you just take it for what it is; a damn good and fun album, full of energy, for those who like Motörhead, Judas Priest, Metallica (the good era, with Cliff), Venom, and Manilla Road. Engineered and mixed by Night Demon’s guitarist, Armand John Anthony, who has been responsible for the sound of albums by Cirith Ungol, Bewitcher, Gygax, and Night Demon (duh), the record sounds raw and gritty enough to defend its underground character, but also clear enough so as not to undermine the performances. The guitars, especially, are gorgeous.

Speaking of guitars, riffs are the bread of this album and the leads are the butter. The former are stomping and ferocious, and the latter are twisted and sinister, while everything is catchy as hell. The vocals are gruff, like a blend of Lemmy and Cronos, and they actually add some more aggressiveness to the music that is very reminiscent of the early days of thrash, when thrash was predominantly adopting the traditional style of NWOBHM bands and was making it heavier, wilder, and eviller. So, basically, Blind Oath is a heavy metal and speed metal and thrash metal record, with chains and spikes and leather and all, and these three styles have always been getting along fine together, haven’t they? It is also a fitting soundtrack for consuming innumerable pints of beer.

There are so many parts I can highlight from this, like the infectious main riff of the title track, the thrashy belligerence of “The Visitor”, the fascinating solo of “Spectral Attack”, the blistering lead guitar parts and the Araya-like scream that opens “Fascinatrix”, or the vocal cameo of Tim Baker (Cirith Ungol) on “The Flame”. But then again, the whole thing is over in 30 minutes, so go ahead and check it out now in its entirety.

“There’s a demon at the door,
Possessed forevermore,
Demon at the door,
It’s a dark visitor!”