Fading Away into the Grave of Nothingness

Oddly, this album isn't at all that bad as certain people had made it out on this website. In fact, it's not bad at all. Sure, it may have influences from Swedish melodic death metal bands such as In Flames and Dark Tranquility, but come on, any fan of Oathean would know that they had originally been a death metal band back in 1992, but went on hold and evolved into a melodic black metal band and yet, with their debut, remained certain death metal elements, such as the mere fact that guitar riffs are more in the vein of death metal than black metal.

The material here, as mentioned earlier, is nothing more but melodic death and melodic black metal fused together. The death metal elements present here are the guitar work and bass work The black metal elements given are the Kim Do-Su's vocals and drumming. The use of keyboards are given as well so that's another nice present from them. There are also Korean folk instruments, such as the Daeguem and Haeguem, which of course, gives elements of folk metal.

The music itself is fast-paced, lengthy, and well-designed. Everything is in order of how it should be and the guitar riffs are not overly made of wankery like that of Herman Li or Sam Totman of Dragonforce, nor is it too emotional and atmospheric like Opeth or Kataklysm usually would tend to do their material. The balance of both is just right. The production is also great, as everything is audible.

Every song is unique and different from one another, even in a very small way. All of the songs are progressive and technical to a small extent while retaining the elements of melodic black metal. They might remind you of an odd mix of Dream Theater, Dark Tranquility, and Dissection, all in one.

Now some people say that because this album happened to be in English, and not in Korean, the song-writing may not be as proficient as their other works. I actually happen to agree, due to the fact that Korean happens to be their native language, and that English is a difficult and not spoken commonly in Asian countries. This is their worst album hands down, but that isn't saying much as this was a great and underrated album nonetheless.

Oathean is primarily known for being South Korean, and I'll be the first in line to say that this has absolutely no impact on their music at all, because despite their unique geographical origins this could easily come out of Sweden. This is not a compliment; it just means they end up sounding like every other melodic death metal band on the face of the planet, with only hastily added synthestra to separate them from any other artist. This is thoroughly unexciting music; for my first couple listens I thought this was enjoyable enough to be hesitantly recommended, but now I can see it for what it really is: unoriginal, uninteresting, and unworthy of purchase.

As usual, this is melodic death metal with essentially nothing in common with death metal. The riffs are directly out of the early Dark Tranquillity or In Flames mold: overly harmonizing, overly melodic, overly everything without a trace of subtlety to be found anywhere. Te strange, seemingly electronic drums are an annoyance more than anything: they're tonally static and don't help mold the music in any significant way, and nor do the stock melodeath high growls either. There's occasionally rockish moments (rather typical for modern melodeath) and the infrequent attempt at variation through more aggressive than usual riffs, but all in all it's average throughout. Melodically this is like every other melodeath band, and the South Korean origins of Oathean never appear in any significant way except for a throwaway pseudo-folk track near the end of the disc. We can probably be thankful for this.

But wait, there's a synthesizer that makes this 'symphonic' melodeath! Does it add anything significant to the music? Of course not, what the hell are you expecting? The keyboard either harmonizes with the root notes of riffs or plays trite little neoclassical ditties which manage to go nowhere at all. It would be extremely easy to ignore were it not so fucking high in the mix. I wonder if the band is trying to draw attention to it? Of course they are, it's the only element of this release which even approaches an atypical idea, and even then it's only a hair's deviation away from standard melodeath by using an actual keyboard instead of guitar leads which sound like keyboards.

This is absolutely pointless and apart from being occasionally catchy and generally listenable there's nothing to recommend for it. No, this isn't musically offensive, but there's absolutely no reason to listen to it either if you've heard even one of the million melodeath albums which have been released over the past decade and a half. You absolutely should skip this; even amidst South Korean metal there's material substantially better than this.

Oathean are a symphonic black metal band from Korea. Once you get past the novelty of their location, however, Oathean really don't offer anything partiuclarly new or exciting at all to the genre. It is competently played, relatively aggressive (for the genre, anyway), and has some interesting melodic moments. Nevertheless, there is literally nothing about this release that would make one want to pick it up over any other symphonic black metal, and once you factor in the excellent Chthonic into the mix, Oathean even lose out on the "exotic locale" factor. If you're amazingly obsessed with later-period Dimmu Borgir, this is probably worth something, but otherwise it's a very "meh" album.

Most of the expected symphonic black metal elements are here: screechy vocals, overabundant keyboards, triggered, crappily produced drums and uninspired riffing. Also, the production is very muddy, which does not help matters at all; everything sounds mushed together. The cliche female vocals make a major appearance in "Scent of Longing," and even though I'm generally a sucker for female vocals, their sudden appearance (and the terrible synths behind her voice) ruin the impact. In fact, the only remotely interesting aspect of the music is that some of the very melodic guitar parts are actually quite interesting; the ending solo and acoustic part of "Voice of My Soul" is pretty damn good, as is the melodic bridge in the follow-up "Beyond the Memories I Lost." Unfortunately, these parts are almost always buried by the more metallic moments of the album, which are almost all totally average.

I hate being so hard on a band that is clearly trying very hard (and getting signed to The End being from such a relatively remote area is quite a feat in and of itself), but they clearly need a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate this album, but I can almost always find something I'd rather listen to. Of course, unoriginality isn't always a bad thing, and if you love symphonic black metal, this is a fairly safe purchase. Plus, the fact I got this album for 2 dollars certainly helps in me not totally coming down on this album.

Oathean have a long way to go, and I think The End rushed to get the "oh my God, this band is from fucking Korea!" gimmick out too quickly. With more time in the studio, a more well-rounded production, and less apparent influences, Oathean could be a decent middle-tier symphonic black metal band. Better luck next time, folks.

All the way from South Korea comes Oathean with their third full-length. Being very unfamiliar with the South Korean metal scene, this may be my first introduction. And you know what? It's not a terrible introduction to an entire scene - at least, no worse than the bands we have here in the USA.

Reminds me of the better days of majestic black metal, sounding like a less-dazzling Old Man's Child during their early years with the same melodies of a band like In Ruins. The fairly standard and muffled Gothenburg-tinged guitarwork, backing keys, and occasionally redundant progressions sort of enslave the band to a mediocrity I don't think these guys deserve. I'm sure someone out there would fault the guitarist for their periodic pick-squawkings, and while it doesn't contribute itself to the band's symphonic black sound, necessarily, it adds an interesting layer. Some of the keyboard runs are impressive, while so many more are just sort of hokey and too prominent in Oathean's general sound. They're outright painful, even, especially when they have that mock-string orchestra tone. As I stated before, a lot of the transitions are sort of dysfunctional and seem to take a rather hard turn, despite their similarity in sound. However, on "The Origin", there's an ominous passage where the keyboards actually interact really well with the rest of the music and pave the way for an eerie atmosphere, and this sets the feel for the rest of the song. It's good, really, although I wouldn't be drawn towards Fading Away Into The Grave of Nothingness if I wasn't reviewing it.

I like this, but it feels so dated and it doesn't really stay in my head. While technically a band with the right characteristics to send them propelled towards greatness, Oathean are lacking a distinctive style and well-rounded execution. If they ditch the keyboards or find a producer who can refine them, with time, these guys might become more notable for what they're playing, not where they're from.

Featuring an introduction that is akin to chamber music that features a howling wind in the background, “Fading Away Into The Grave Of Nothingness” covers a diverse bit of influences. The guitar work is epic and many times similar to power metal or symphonic black metal, with emphasis on melody accentuated by the keyboards of Koo Hye-Ryung that range from powerful pipe organ sounds to ringing bells. A majority of the time the vocals are a screeching black howl that is heavily influenced by Quarthon. Vocalist/ guitarist Kim So-Du does vary his approach, occasionally lapsing into a deep bark.

‘Wandering Soul’ runs a gamut of styles, featuring everything from blistering lead work to the classically influenced acoustic picking towards the song’s end. “From The Depths Of Despair” blasts with a vociferous fury until settling down into some Gothenburg influenced mid tempo thrashing. Later in the track there is a really original sounding part where Hye-Ryung plays a slower melody over the band’s blasting, which creates a dark sounding effect which is truly something different to hear.

This record is a good pick for those who are into the mentioned styles, but at times the mix is a bit weak, sometimes leaning toward demo quality. The keys are at times overpowering and the low end is a bit lacking, with the bass guitars overrun by the drums. That said, the production flaws are a matter that some fans of extreme music might not necessarily notice. The rawness of the recording suits the band’s style well and the production here is certainly better than on many releases of this style.

Collectively, Oathean are fairly skilled songwriters, using keen arrangements in order to keep things interesting. Overall, their guitar driven music is dark and foreboding. On “Voice Of My Soul”, the group offers up more blasting tempos as So-Du delivers his scratchy roars with the conviction of a blackened heart. ‘Beyond The Memories I Lost” features some speedy riffing and a blasting chorus from the depths of Hell.

Certainly, this is an album that will hold much appeal for certain fans of underground material. The manner in which this group incorporates the keyboards into their songwriting is the most original aspect of the group, but you’ll find plenty of great blast beats and talented guitar work here as well. If really raw sounding melodic black metal is your thing, then this is a release you may want to check out.

Contrary to the other poster's views this is not a boring every day piece of black metal. I think this record is actually very unique and definately reccomended. It's pretty awesome a band from Korea can have this kind of talent. Plus they all have pretty long hair i mean cmon. Curious eh?

The vocals are harsh and very black metal. There's no messing around here. Track 2 (Wandering Soul) displays a good range of screaming. It's really quite fitting for their style.

The guitars are great too. Wandering Souls has a barage of riffs that just kick ass. The other songs bring it home as well. The drumwork isnt the most complex in the world, but it's definately sufficient for what they try to do. The incorporation of the keyboard really bring this album together. there's one part in track 3 (From the depths of despair) where the rest of the music/screaming dies into the background slightly and the clean piano part is pushed into the foreground. wow it's really incredible and beautiful. The rest is mostly synth goodies that i love. Another thing is that the production is quite different. it's like they made their own kind of production. It doesnt go on one end (burzum) or the other (dimmu borgir). It's very unique and i like it alot.

Oathean is a great band imo and they deserve recognition, especially coming out of Korea. Listen to this album a few times and you'll like it more and more.

Yawn.

Heard it before.

Yawn.

Heard it before.

Yawn.


That was my overall reaction to this album. Repeat ad nauseam for 50-odd minutes and you have this waste of plastic. I’ve never bothered researching South Korea much, but I’m assuming it’s not a communist mud-hole like its northern counterpart, so these guys really have to write such utterly clichéd “feel sorry for me, I’m so sad and ornery”.. hang on, that’s right, Kim Jong Il is the psychotic dictator of North Korea, not South Korea.

Basically everything on this disc has already been written by Dark Tranquility (in their keyboard-laden Projector/Haven wilderness years) and Dimmu Borgir.
Now, I have nothing against being unoriginal, but only if it involves plagiarizing something good. What these guys have done is simply take the least interesting elements of what I habitually label “Century Media Metal” and made a habit of watering it down even further. So, you get the stock-standard Gothenburger riffing, unimaginative drumming (with mandatory thin, shitty kickdrum triggers) and the usual raspy vocals added to make stupid people think it’s black metal. Oathean offers nothing new except the occasional bit of “exotic” clinky traditional-sounding interludes which remind me of the soundtrack from House Of Flying Daggers. Except here, they’re made using the same hokey midi-synth they use to drown the guitars in during the metal tracks, so rather than sounding moving and powerful, it’s just cheap and bland. Much like the rest of the album in that regard – just check out the song titles and try not to laugh. Don’t worry, if you have the misfortune to hear this disc, you’ll be too busy sleeping to laugh.