Dark Oath – Ages of Man

The name Dark Oath first crossed my eyes through various online epic melo-death groups, most often presented as a worthy comparison to Finland’s Wintersun. Despite all the online controversies, I’ve always been a fan of the Finnish legends, so any comparison with them will pique my curiosity. The thing is that such comparisons also make me think of the typical Scandinavian vibe, Nordic, cold and mythical. But Dark Oath seems to have different myths in mind.

I will give credit to the comparison, but I will also say it is short lived. Dark Oath is also focused on blast beats, technical guitar parts, lush orchestrations and overall epic sound, but the use of these elements and the aim of the music is different. The album “Ages of Man” presents an artistic overview of the ages of man from Greek mythology, from the Golden Age of peace and harmony between gods and men, down to the downfall of the Iron Age. Each age except for the last one is depicted over the course of two songs, while the latter is only given one song.

Given this conceptual framework, it makes sense that the aesthetics and atmosphere should be different from the typical Scandinavian melo-death. Samples and orchestrations don’t follow the typical pattern of frosty sparkles and choirs, but take a more folky, warmer edge, more fitting for the grandeur of the Mediterranean mythological landscape. Almost each song on the album starts with a brief intro of some acoustic instrument that I can’t exactly pinpoint. I assume it is sampled, but it does the job quite well nonetheless. A lush string section is present throughout most of the album’s run time and every now and then, the instrumental background is also graced with moments of female voice, delivering some beautifully ethereal aahs. Again, I assume all this is sampled, as are the drums, since no drummer is credited, which is a bit of a bummer as the drum parts are spectacular. Relentless blast beats, thunderous tom build-ups or marching rhythms and sliced double-bass patterns all work together to make the songs as impactful as possible, alternating a forward running wall of sound with more spaced-out rhythmic sections that are all very engaging.

Dark Oath – Gold I (Dawn of Time)

The band’s performance is also absolutely stellar. The riffs cover galloping sections, epic tremolo-picking melodic lines and dynamic technical sections in a beautiful flow of energy. It’s the kind of riffs that will offer a lot of attack but also create a central melodic line for the songs, either in unison with the orchestral lines, or just complementing them. Regardless, the melodies always feel fluid, cinematic and inviting. The sound is very modern and sometimes just slightly electronic, with some of the epic, open chord moments almost sounding like deathcore. But I don’t feel like this sacrifices the folky sound and raw aesthetic. It just makes everything sound more thunderous and monumental. At times I feel like they tried to make the full band’s wall of sound come across as if lightnings were being shot down at you from the peak of Mount Olympus by Zeus himself.

And that gets us to the concept. As previously mentioned, the lyrics go through the 5 ages of man from Greek mythology: gold, silver, bronze, heroic and iron. The story is one of gradual decline, from peace and harmony, to lies, conflict and hopelessness. There isn’t a lot of detail in the lyrics, with only the main plot points being displayed as snapshots of the eras. And I think that’s what saves the album, because my main criticism for it is that the sound is too constant. I do not mind a band keeping the same sound throughout an entire album, but when the story gives so much variation, from the initial peace and harmony (‘Gold I: Dawn of Time’), to moments like Prometheus being punished to suffer for all eternity for stealing the fire from the gods (‘Bronze I: Stolen Flame’) or the heroic display of the Trojan wars (‘Heroic I: Sons of Gods and Mortal Men’), I feel like they could have brought more colors to the sound, to reflect these changes. What they are doing is appropriate for the Golden Age. It is harmonious, thunderous and triumphant, and a perfect fit for the image of a utopian harmony. But as the narrative turns to wars, conflicts, suffering and decline, I feel like more ominous, tormented or sinister soundscapes should have emerged as well. The reason why I say that the conceptual approach ‘saves’ the album is because it seems to be looking at the story from a distance, as a broad view of the mythology, presenting the characters and moments as icons. The band tends to come across as all-powerful storytellers, and from this perspective, the accurate expression of the character’s feelings is not quite as important, and the constant sound makes more sense.

Dark Oath – Bronze I (Stolen Flame)

The other point of criticism is also regarding lack of variation. Vocalist Sara Leitão is absolutely killing her mid-range screams, but again, she keeps the same approach, with very little variation in tone, pace or emotion, throughout the entire album. I do not want to sound too negative about this. I love the album as a whole. It is exciting, beautifully written and as majestic as it gets. But I feel like the discord between concept and musical approach is its biggest weakness, reducing it from what could have been a true masterstroke, to just a solid epic melo-death album. It is also more enjoyable for me to listen to selected songs from the album, than sitting through the entire thing, which tends to defeat the purpose of what is essentially a concept album here.

At the end of the day, the fresh take on heavy orchestration in death metal is very exciting, they nailed an incredible sound and brought forth some fantastic melodies and epic moments. “Ages of Man” Is a great album that I would recommend to any fan of epic soundscapes. It just could have been so much more!

Track List:

1. Gold I (Dawn of Time) (05:13)
2. Gold II (Fall of Time) (04:40)
3. Silver I (A New King) (04:42)
4. Silver II (Life of Sorrow and Pain) (04:02)
5. Bronze I (Stolen Flame) (05:33)
6. Bronze II (Raging Waters) (04:30)
7. Heroic I (Sons of Gods and Mortal Men) (04:44)
8. Heroic II (Elysian Fields) (04:27)
9. Iron (Through the Veil of Night) (04:35)