CoC : The Oath - The End of Times : Review

The Oath - _The End of Times_
(Shark Records, 2006)
by: Quentin Kalis (7 out of 10)

The Oath are essentially the latest addition to a long line of bands that adopt the commercialized black metal of Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth as their starting point. To their credit, The Oath sound much less like Cradle or Dimmu than about half a dozen other newly minted CDs that burnt my ears at some point in the past three months -- despite an apparent obsession with Dimmu Borgir's _Enthrone Darkness Triumphant_, albeit with a less orchestral sound and sans upbeat riffing. This comes to the fore on several songs which feature an incessantly cheesy synth, not at all dissimilar to "Tormentor of Christian Souls". The keyboards add little value and their songs wouldn't suffer if they were absent; chances are that their songs would be more powerful. Fortunately, the keys do not overwhelm the songs, and despite the Dimmu influence and amateurish key pounding, this is a rather listenable album.

Contact: http://www.theoath.org

(article published 17/4/2007)