SACRED OATH „“Darkness Visible””

Music: Power metal
Website: http://www.sacredoath.net/
Country: United States

This album comes after quite a gap. The last SACRED OATH album was a little way back now with the rerecording of “crystal re-vision” in 1998 that saw another release in 2005. This is only the bands third album in 20 years, but it should give them the success they deserve.

The album opens with, “about the stone” This song is basically a long intro track to the album. The vocals don’t kick in till about two minutes in, so this is maybe one for METALLICA fans who don’t mind unnecessarily long intros. First impressions from this track bring to mind bands like IRON MAIDEN and QUEENSRYCHE. It builds up for the second track “battle cry”. “Battle cry” sounds a little bit more like JUDAS PRIEST than IRON MAIDEN. The song has a good section of soloing in the middle. The song doesn’t quite flow between the solos and the rest of the song. They just don’t quite fit right. There was just a little gap after the guitar breakdown parts each time that annoyed me slightly. It like the song has finished then they decide to start up again. “Queen of the night” should not be confused with the WHITNEY HOUSTON song of the same name. It does however bring to mind QUEENSRYCHE, although that may mainly be because of the similarity to a certain QUEENSRYCHE song title. This song has some good changes of pace between some good speed metal styles then slower more melodic sections. The title track “darkness visible” starts off with another long repetitive intro before kicking in. This would be one of the standout tracks again following the MAIDEN style. “The prophecy” slows things down a bit, adding a bit of variety to the album. The song does speed up as it goes on, but the mellower intro contrasts with the previous track. “Death is inevitable” has a bit more thrash and speed metal influence. It sounds a bit like early MEGADETH with the repeated messages.

This album will please people who don’t object to hearing an album based on IRON MAIDEN, QUEENSRYCHE, MERCIFUL FATE and JUDAS PRIEST. If you want an old fashioned heavy metal album with clear vocals, solos, fantasy lyrics then this will be right up your street. All the tracks on the album are solid, none really stand out as being weak or filler tracks, but then when you only make three albums in 20 years you should have some good material up your sleeves. Hopefully the next album will take less time as this was a good listen I look forward to hearing more.

note: 7/10

Tracklist

1.Words Upon the Stone
2.Battle Cry
3.Queen of the Night
4.Darkness Visible
5.Prophecy
6.Calm Before the Storm
7.Unholy Man
8.Death Is Inevitable
9.Beyond the Edge of the Flame
10.The Golden Dawn

Line-up

Rob Thorne – vocals/guitar
Kenny Evans – drums
Lou Liotta – bass
Bill Smith- guitar