Black Oath has started their career in catacombs of Milan in 2005. Since then the band constantly practices in musical witchcraft performing the best they can in a form of traditional doom music telling morbid stories of blood, damnation and black magic researches. Right now Black Oath have new full length release “To Below And Beyond” on hands. I’ve heard their new song “Wicked Queen” and a whole album promises a lot of great infernal tunes. So it seemed right to me to invoke Black Oath mastermind A.th (vocals, guitars) and discuss with him latest band’s news.
Hell and damnation! Salute A.th! How are you? How is Black Oath?
Hello again. BLACK OATH is stronger than ever before and we are planning the return with a new great album, new merch and cursed live apparitions..
Black Oath got rid of Paul V., as I did an interview with him two years ago… I need to ask - where did you dig his body?
Due to lack of attitude and dedication he is no more part of the band.. We all are glad about his decision to leave and finally we have a strong line up with real musicians! Beside vocals, i took bass and we found another guitarist (already in TERRORSAW line) .. At the moment things couldn't be better.. I will never let someone else ruin my band.. B.O. Is not a fairytale but a terrifying nightmare, an horror movie and i am the director!
A week ago I've seen news that Black Oath returns to it's congregation with new tunes of dark and occult under the name “To Below And Beyond”. Will new stuff songs continue same conception you have on other records?
Of course, it wouldn't be Black Oath otherwise. The concept behind the band is the same even if music evolved and became much more mature. We worked a lot on every single track and we made a hell of an album !For the first time in almost ten years i can say i am 100%satisfied and would not change anything on it ! We are ready to lead you below and beyond.
So we can suppose that Black Oath will show their best with sinister traditional doom featuring melodic tunes and clean vocals, isn’t it?
Oh yes, be ready to listen our most intense work… everything improved on the album and we are very excited to hear the reaction of our supporters..
Black Oath have released single “Wicked Queen” in anticipation of “To Below And Beyond”. What kind of songs does this record consist of?
The single is part of a concept album.. An alchemic and deep research ,which is needed to reach highest levels of spirituality.. I made a sort of story with as final result the fall of men.. There's a sentence in the booklet of the album which represent the perfect concept of the whole work.. I will let you find it by yourselves.
What did inspire you to write this story?
Since the very beginning ,the band has been part of a big concept.. We signed the black oath on our first mcd (it starts with a black initiation),we lived the third aeon (due to personal reasons and first line up change) and we drowned into darkness through qliphotic energies.. This time,i was reading books about alchemy and they gave me the idea of a concept album.. All bands are "occultists" "magicians" and are reaching the "one" nowadays.. So we made an inversion and found pleasure in lust and sins cursing ourselves to the world below!
Since the very beginning ,the band has been part of a big concept.. We signed the black oath on our first mcd (it starts with a black initiation),we lived the third aeon (due to personal reasons and first line up change) and we drowned into darkness through qliphotic energies.. This time,i was reading books about alchemy and they gave me the idea of a concept album.. All bands are "occultists" "magicians" and are reaching the "one" nowadays.. So we made an inversion and found pleasure in lust and sins cursing ourselves to the world below!
Black Oath song also is included in new compilation Elektroplasma Music, what is this project about?
Well, as the album is delayed we needed to release at least a single.. But this time we didn't worked on another Ep so we thought a compilation could have been perfect... ELEKTROPLASMA was already about to make a promo CD and we commonly agreed to put our new song in! That CD will be totally for free during gigs or placing an order at our store (www.blackoath.com or www.elektroplasmamusik.eu)
What's the name of label that takes responsibility of spreading your message?
Elektroplasma Recs DLP
Doomentia Recs CD
Equinox Discos Tape
Only two years have passed since I Hate Records released your previous album "Ov Qliphoth And Darkness". Was this time enough for you to renew your vision of how Black Oath must sound?
Sure, after OQAD release we played selected shows then we took a year of silence (except for a gig with PROCESSION and EPITAPH, which is always worth) to write new material... As I said before, we worked very hard keeping an eye on every single arrangement and we played like obsessed till the work was perfect to represent our morbid feelings... It is a bit faster but darkness is the same… ever most dangerous.
I Hate has tight release schedule this year, was it a reason why you changed a label?
To be honest, no... Peter made a very good job for us and also Horror records. We all are thankful to them but simply we tried a change... We know the guys of Elektroplasma very well and we decided to give them the Lp version. About Doomentia, we heard only good things about it so we took decision fast... After this album we will be free from any deal and who knows who will take the courage to release our next release. Who will dare?? Ahahah
And how does work with label helps much with spreading music? Well, stupid questions, because I’ve received “Ov Qliphoth And Darkness” straight from I Hate; maybe it would be better to ask about possible effectiveness of DYI promotion.
I don't like at all the new DIY trend sorry. Most of the time it is an excuse to let bands do anything by themselves without givin'any help or promotion from labels or live promoters. If I would really do it by myself then I would release and print the album without letting anybody steal our rights or money.. It is easy to talk about "underground", DIY etc… But don't forget that a band has to face studio recordings, rehearsal and e merchandise costs most of the time. We do it with pleasure and extreme passion. Shouldn't it be the same from labels or live promoters? It doesn’t seem so.
You'll have a band's jubilee in 2016; do you have in mind some special ritual mess to celebrate it?
As of now we have no shows planned for 2016… We will see. If conditions will be worth we will perform the most concerts we can. Sadly most of the time we hear lots of words and organizers seems like they are working for the first time. We will avoid to waste our time and be more selective about live activities.
I often terrorize doom bands with one boring question about clichés which haunt doom scene. For example – Witch! Black Oath have two songs about witches on "Ov Qliphoth And Darkness" album, what’s the story behind both tracks?
I always loved the figure of the witch.. So seductive and diabolic! Even in our first mCD there's a "witch song". It is my personal tribute to all those wicked ladies slaughtered for ignorant reasons. We also played NIGHT OF THE WITCH from DeathSS old classics during last shows. Anyway, to make it short "Witchnight Curse" is about a sabbatical ritual while "Scent of a Burning Witch" describe the anger and revenge after the torture.
One of most famous historical books of witches is “Aradia, The Gospel of Witches”, and it contains texts of some witches coven in Tuscany, Italy. Did it inspire you on writing these songs?
Not at all! I have read many books about witchery and one of the last is "the horned god of the witches". I found it very interesting and it describes very well the figure of the "god" during sabbat, from the roots of this cult to the nowadays rituals.
Black Oath will play on Hammer of Doom X on 21st of November, how did you get this invitation? What was your biggest gig till that moment?
We played already in great events like METAL MAGIC, MUSKELROCK, HELL'S PLEASURE, DUTCH DOOM DAYS and we keep great memories of every single show. We got in contact with HOD organizers few months ago and they showed lot of interest and booked us fast. It is a great fest and we are ready to share the stage with big names like CANDLEMASS (again) and MY DYING BRIDE. And don’t forget our brothers of Caronte. There will be a mess!
What are your plans for touring on 2015?
Till now we have a fest in Italy planned (NAVAJO CALLING) and it consist of a very nice bill. We already played 2 shows to take off dust from our bloody jackets and we performed for the first time 2 new songs. They fix perfectly with old material and thanks to the new line up our shows are more aggressive and morbid!
Thanks for interview A.th, I think that it’s all for today. Can you share some ancient spells or invocations with our readers?
Thank you for this interesting interview.. I suggest to the readers to keep an eye on our next record and get in touch with the band. We are always glad to answer and share opinions with our fans.
Join our Cursed Rock Musick
A.th
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