In 2021, OATHBRINGER, the Kragujevac-based heavy metal band, unveiled their debut album, “Tales of Glory” recorded at Coolijana Studio and released under RTR Records, the album received widespread acclaim. Its powerful melodies and thunderous rhythms captivated fans worldwide, earning praise from critics and ensuring a promising future for the band.

Pushing the “rewind” button, the idea of forming the band arose in 2020, when guitarist Lazar Zakić decided to contact Miloš Stošić in order to record demo songs for his personal project. At that time, the duo recorded two demo songs “Under the Spell” and “Heaven’s Falling Down” under the name “Riddle of Steel”. After the release of two demo songs, Lazar and Miloš decided to continue their cooperation and invited two more members to the band where they were joined by Bora Petrović on drums and Pera Đorđević on guitar. After that, they started working on new songs and it was decided to change the name of the band to “OATHBRINGER”.

REVIEW:

The Serbian rulers of metal are no strangers to the readers of NWOTHM, featuring in several publications, though a brief “background check” surely helps building context, especially when a band is doing the critically vital transition from a sensational debut to a sophomore creation. Practically, we stand in the middle of a trilogy here and from narration standpoint, this is the place where most of the action is supposed to happen. A quick glance on the song title list and immediately we get the point where the musical journey will lead us and I bet it will be one hell of a ride!

The opener “Morgoth” greets us with fanfare keyboards intro to instill the agitation of grandeur, mixed with the wicked laughter at the background, which turns to be a well-designed deception. All of a sudden, an outburst of metalized zeal descends upon us, ushering us right into the action. It’s one of those “do or die” moments, when the outburst grabs you by the throat and shakes you to the ground. From this point on, the hellish chariot of the lord of the dark is smashing everything on its way, till the extasy of praising his name, frantically chanted in the chorus. When one of the key villains from The Silmarillion world is heading the cast of the album, there could be no mistake about the profile of his fellows that are following further on. The classic piano interlude just in the middle, sounds like a real elegy, stripped from any lament, connecting us to the equally captivating ending timed by a fading clock ticking.

After such a majestic welcome, the storyline takes us directly in the “Hall Of The Slain”, one of the many aliases of the home of the brave, familiar from Nordic mythologies. In all honesty, this epic banger was my first ever encounter with OATHBRINGER and my immediate spontaneous reaction was a jaw-dropping dismay, joined with a “How the hell something so brilliant could come from just couple of hundreds of kilometers away!?!?” thought. It truly left me speechless and even purposely looking for some flaws, couldn’t encounter such. It’s not only the hymnic vibe, lucid lyrics and instrumental fluidity that makes you swallow the song on a single bite. The omnipresent and clear connotation with viking / pagan metal, peaks in the sing-along chorus that puts you in the middle of a glorious journey through eternity. To this day, in my view, that one keeps solid number one favorite spot from the whole band’s discography. Dune anybody? Yes, that one…the desolate fictitious barren land of sand and ¨spice¨. There is no mead or bacchanal banquets, yet exactly on “Arakis” is where the boys from Serbia take us next. The initial riffage follows the thread of “Hall Of The Slain”, later reshaping into an imperial march from out of space. Solo guitars definitely dominate here, vocals are a bit more monotonous and straightforward, substantially higher pitched and well founded by the rhythm section. Тhere is not much of a merit to shine in this third track and it can hardly leave a landmark, unless you’re a die-hard sci-fi fan , fond of such thematical incantations.

But fear not, my friends, as the bar is raised again in “Holy War”, which if I am not mistaken happens to be the second single of the album, accompanied by an official video showing the gang having fun jamming together. Incorporating The Crusades motif, a subject close to the heart of most metalheads and an everlasting source of inspiration, this song shows more polished and easier to digest sound, attacking with an energizing intro, moderate tempo and melodious vox work. By nature, OATHBRINGER show great affection towards easy to memorize choruses and there is a certain party tempo peeping all along. Something tells me this an intentional effect and the first to take advantage of it will be rock-radio stations and specialized YouTube channels – a segway to spread around the message of the band. A swift rebound to the lands of frost and fierce warriors “Son Of The North” catapults us in the front line of viking battle assembly. One more combatant hymn that belongs to the same drawer with “Hall Of The Slain”, having a different flavor easy to recognize, primarily by the main riff and more choir-style of singing in the chorus. Love the drum pounding here, a nice reminiscence with the hammer of Thor, plus the overall medieval sounding of the guitars, which one might say patterns after bagpipe playing.

Scary story time as we engage on a pacy gallop to find the “Witch’s Hut” and as typical tale topic this is for the nations of whole Europe, stylistically the piece stands out from the rest so far since the first note. Lyrically even more, meaning that the narrative encompasses a full four and a half minutes voyage. The sound reaches to old-school roots and as a rule of thumb, diverse influences can be traced in that palette of creativity. Undisputable champion in originality, starting with the way the drumroll is chopping the verses, transfusing in a guitar – drum duel we find in the mid-section to evolve in an elaborate hard-rock solo, leading to a final crescendo of warning to run for our lives. Now I am bought into the idea that found a hidden gem in the collection and a sure future hit the band must be proud of.

“Blood & Steel” takes us to the final third of the release, winning the prize for most MANOWAR-like title. The analogy is spot on and if you fixate on the lyrics its hard to deny the parallel. Another element that couldn’t pass disregarded is that with the progress of the album, the drum’s role in the musical construct is becoming incumbent, probably propelled by a producer’s attempt to invoke the spirit of magnificence of power metal and make it amicable for a broader audience taste. The essence of the song is a hero’s confession and call to arms, hailing his brothers to sing along the verses of war, something OATHBRINGER are specialists in and already have proven so in “Holy War”. Now that I think of it, this forms a second thematic pair of tracks, next to the already identified norsemen bond between songs #2 and #5.

Meeting blood and steel, often leads to “Strike to Kill”, a bloodlust bestial invasion of a song, filled with excruciating animalistic outrage, sparing no one on its hunt. Another one fitting in the 4-and-a-half-minute mold, where it’s impossible to neglect to what degree the guys are enjoying what they do. And how they do it! Without being flashy or unnecessary fashionable the shredding, the shout-outs, the trad metal harmonies form an explosive cocktail of endorphins, an addictive mixture of mastery, with a barely noticeable snippet of mid-nineties GRAVE DIGGER nuances. Judge and jury are unanimous here – a smash hit! Closure comes naturally with the balladic intro of “Dragonmount” as if the band wants to put us all to sleep, exhausted from the frantic headbanging so far. And how misleading those sweet romantic initial moments are…What unparalleled explosion and bang that follows, cruel barbaric slap to swing the pendulum of emotions to the total opposite! Hardly I can recall similar power-up moment, such that makes you literally jump from the chair and start chanting. Neither can imagine the ecstatic instant in which this is performed live and ignites a cruel mosh-pit. By far the most dense and striking song in terms of power and possessiveness, an epitome of a banger to close any live gig. Slow clap of hands for this one and here so much VISIGOTH essence to be found that I start dreaming how those two formations will look in a joint act. Maybe its not only my imagination…

CONCLUSION: Chasing to output a trilogy, by design involves a conspicuous element of structuring each chapter/album around certain conceptual skeleton. In “Tales of Valor” we might not spot such clear outline as into a classical all-time masterpiece like “Horror Show” by ICED EARTH, nevertheless the predominant storyboard of the entire release instills the heavy sensation of aggregation and comprehensiveness beyond measure. I would argue that despite the latest personal changes in the band OATHBRINGER have grown as mindset and as an artistic team, to deliver an upgrade of their sensational debut, raising the stakes of expectations for the third part about to come higher, than most young bands could handle. That speaks of a remarkable courage and self-confidence, that reflects in the character of their compositions – equally compact in their togetherness and unique when taken apart, “Tales of Valor” offers very few pitfalls, leaving space for future improvement and excelling in metal mastery. A well-deserved honorable mention to the production team and record label behind this endeavor – the professional delivery, plus consistency of presentation perfectly match the reputation and ambition of the band members. The one thing I will say to OATHBRINGER next time we meet in person is “Svaka čast, momci!” and carry on your epic conquest.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oathbringerkg

Bandcamp: https://oathbringer.bandcamp.com/

TheNWOTHM Score: 9/10