Diabolic Oath "Aischrolatreia"

    The intense mind altering apocalyptic sounds that Diabolic Oath delivers with the release of their brand new mini-LP titled, “Aischrolatreia,” will leave you drifting away into a void unfathomable terror. These extreme metal musicians have proven to be a fearsome act by crafting some utterly tormenting death metal arrangements that feverishly shred away at your sanity. 

    Based out of Portland, OR, I am rather familiar with Diabolic Oath having reviewed their debut full-length album, “Profane Death Exodus,” which just like with this new mini-LP is being released through Sentient Ruin. The amount of sickening guitar riffs and unconventional chord progressions makes this band vividly standout when listening to their music. On their debut release the band offer up a plethora of hellacious creativity, so I was extremely pleased to hear the band continue to write such terrifying pieces of morbid aggression on this new release. 

    Sonically, “Aischrolatreia,” is a monumental sounding release with a very chaotic, yet profound presentation. The first track wastes little time conjuring up some purely putrid sounding riffs as well as some pulverizing drum parts. I think the drumming instantly caught my attention, because the flurry of blast beats provided by the band’s drummer creates this massive sounding thunderous assault. You really feel as if some malevolent force is rushing towards you and all your can do is watch as the landscape around you crumbles into oblivion. 

    Tracks like, “Grand Atrocities through Foul Miscreations” and “Swathed in Aberrant Flesh,” are purely sinister pieces of music featuring arrangements that seek to go beyond what listeners have come to hear from most modern death metal artists. Diabolic Oath is able to construct these dissonant guitar riffs which violently pull you in a variety of directions. Even though the musical landscape is mercilessly getting swallowed up by what seems like a massive sounding cloud of hellish distorted entropy, you become almost entranced by the inhuman chaos and you just cannot stop listening. 

    The album’s overall sadistic sounding production quality definitely helps to strengthen each composition on the album, and the band never gives off that vibe of where you feel like they are settling for a cheap ritualistic death metal sound. For example, “Malefic Pathways,” is one song where the riffs are down right savage sounding, yet don’t fall off the rails by throwing in unnecessary extra guitar parts to muddy up the arrangement. On the last track, “Poisoned Bodies of Swine Imbuing,” the music builds toward this pestilent sounding climax where the guitar playing leads you on a brutal hallucinogenic journey into the depths of hell. 

    If this album is a prelude of what is to come on the next Diabolic Oath full-length release, well then people better start preparing for the upcoming onslaught, because this band does not mess around. I will point out that at first some listeners might be overwhelmed by the constant chaotic sounding landscapes, but in the end the band does such a great job bring everything together and the overall sound definitely can hook listeners looking for something that transcends the basic death metal formula. We already have too many new death metal bands sounding like Dollar Store versions of Suffocation and Morbid Angel, so I always respect band's like Diabolic Oath for creating unique and dynamic sounding extreme metal releases. 

Check out the song "Swathed in Aberrant Flesh" below : 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Diabolic Oath Bandcamp:

https://diabolicoath.bandcamp.com/