BARBARIC OATH (Ger) – ‘Sword Sorcery Vengeance’ TAPE

Comprising five barbaric-indeed songs in 21 whirlwind minutes, on first blush, one could say BARBARIC OATH’s Sword, Sorcery, Vengeance is a devout slab of the bestial arts: gutted, gnawing, insistent in its ultraviolence. Peer deeper into the mini-album’s inky depths and one will find not only more death-metalled muscle, but a compellingly unique thematic focus: fantasy from ’70s and ’80s cult films as well as role-playing games like Heroquest. Thus, the combination of that with a sound more akin to the likes of Finland’s Belial, Mythos, and early Bolt Thrower, BARBARIC OATH keep their word to crush your soul – simple, but surprisingly sublime.