The Book of Truth

Ceremonial Oath was one of the many less successful bands in the famous Swedish death metal scene of the early 90s. They founded, played for a few years, and got a few releases out on the market before folding quietly without anyone really caring much; a scenario they shared with many other bands of the time such as Goddefied and Authorize. However, Ceremonial Oath had one thing that set them apart from aforementioned bands: the band members would later create or join several highly successful bands on the metal scene, and these bands were not just blatantly duplicating the Ceremonial Oath sound. Rather, these bands were quite different and were not just financially successful, but also played an important role in shaping and developing metal through the 90s and onwards. Vocalist and guitarist Oscar Dronjak created Hammerfall, an important band for the rising European power metal scene. Bassist Jesper Strömblad formed In Flames, one of the most iconic bands in the melodic death metal scene of Gothenburg. Guitarist Anders Iwers went on to become a member of two very classic metal bands: Tiamat and Cemetary (drummer Markus Nordberg also followed Iwers to Cemetary).

The success of the post-Ceremonial Oath careers of the band members are both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the way that it allowed the band members to reunite in 2013, remaster and re-release their albums, and play a few gigs on various festivals; something I think was actually very cool. However, there is also a negative aspect. Any time superstars have an older work from their younger days before they were famous, this work attracts a lot of hype, and this hype can sometimes blind people’s perception of the work, making them exaggerate the strengths while downplaying the flaws. Before I go into the actual review, I would therefore like to address some of the myths surrounding this album.

The first myth is that Ceremonial Oath was a groundbreaking band that helped shaping the Gothenburg sound in the same way that bands like At The Gates and In Flames did. This is not true. If you compare The Book Of Truth with albums like In Flames’s Lunar Strain or Dark Tranquillity’s The Gallery, there are very few similarities. In fact, the reason why Jesper Strömblad left Ceremonial Oath was because he wasn’t allowed to do the type of music that he later did in In Flames.

The second myth is that Ceremonial Oath was a very big and successful band that played a major role on the early Swedish death metal scene. This is also not true. The truth is that they were actually a rather small act. Granted, they had some success; they managed to get a record deal, and they opened for bands such as At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity, but overall, they were not one of the main contenders. In fact, both Dronjak and Strömblad left the band shortly after this album’s release, meaning that the band had to focus on finding new band members instead of touring behind the album! In 1993, there were many other bands on the scene releasing death metal albums with a melodic touch, that were of much higher quality and had a lot more success, for example Unanimated, Dissection, and Eucharist. Compared to the albums released by these bands, The Book Of Truth is, at least in my opinion, a rather bland effort.

But enough of that; let’s talk about the music. How does The Book Of Truth sound? Well, at its core, it’s obviously old-school Swedish death metal, but with a slight touch of melody, typical of what many Swedish death metal bands attempted in 1993. The music is overall raw, and melodic guitar licks and keyboard effects are used occasionally, mostly for creating an ambience. The band also, rather interestingly, adds elements from black metal, doom metal, and even crossover thrash to some of the songs, which results in a confusing blend at times. For example, the lyrics deal with satanic worship, and the vocals have this high rasp to them, which is reminiscent of many black metal bands. The fast death metal parts are sometimes also interrupted by slow and doomy passages. One could therefore perhaps describe this album as an extreme metal album rather than a pure death metal album. If I would be a bit rude, I would say that this album sounds a bit like it was made by people who do not have a lot of experience with death metal, and were writing something they thought was the way death metal would sound like.

This confusion seems to have spilled over to the lyrics. The Book Of Truth is apparently a concept album, with a story that continues from one song to the next. But the actual concept is rather difficult to grasp. The story seems to be something about some guy who opposes Christianity and then sells his soul to the devil. It is not very original, and frankly it doesn’t really go anywhere. The tempos and moods of the songs also don’t seem to reflect the twist and turns in the story very well, creating even more confusion. A perfect example of this is the final track, which is an instrumental song called “Hellbound”. I assume this song is supposed to describe the main character finally descending to hell after selling his soul. The only problem is that the mood in this song sounds nothing like that. It rather sounds like a jam session the band members had in the studio to warm up before the recording, and that they then just put that jam at the end of the record because they didn’t know how to finish it. I have actually read that several of the songs on this album were written separately years apart, with lyrics and titles completely different from what they have on The Book Of Truth. This is understandable, since the album actually sounds more of a collection of separate songs than one single flowing composition.

If the sound and lyrics of The Book Of Truth are a bit disjointed, so is also the band performance. The members of Ceremonial Oath do have some talent for playing their instruments and writing songs (as evidenced by their later careers), but on this album, their performance is very unripe. The band sometimes has trouble playing tightly, which lessens the brutality and impact of the songs. There is a certain precision needed to execute the intensity of death metal, and that just isn’t here. Furthermore, neither Iwers nor Dronjak are particularly good at playing lead guitar. The rhythms are okay, but the solos sound rather amateurish – when they go fast, the playing is sloppy, when they go slow, the melodies just sound uninspired. Dronjak is unfortunately also not a very good singer. His vocals consist mostly of a high-pitched, monotone shriek, and he doesn’t articulate the words very well, making it very difficult to understand the lyrics. Thankfully however, all band members are pretty much on the same level, which at least gives the band a somewhat unified sound. If for example the guitarist had been an elite shredder, but the drummer and vocalist had been very sloppy, the resulting sound could have been catastrophic.

The music is also affected by a somewhat lackluster production. It is perfectly understandable that the band didn’t have money for an expensive studio at this stage in their lives, and I personally don’t mind lo-fi underground production, as long as it serves the music. The only problem is that the songs on The Book Of Truth are of the more epic kind that really needed a powerful production to reach their true potential. Sadly, that production is not here. A few notable examples: In the chorus of the song “For I Have Sinned”, the whole band repeatedly keeps yelling “For I have sinned!” over fast riffs. It’s cheesy, yes, but with a really powerful production, this part could at least have felt quite intense. Now it just sounds silly. Another problem is that the production is sometimes very uneven between songs. An example of this is the intro to “Only Evil Prevails”. It starts out with a bunch of ominous keyboard effects with a demonic voice talking, and then the song explodes into a fast beat with all the instruments. The strange thing with this part is that the actual intro with the keyboards and the voice actually sound really good production-wise, but when the other instruments come in, there is an immediate downturn in production quality, which really takes away the explosive effect this section could have had.

So far I’ve been mentioning mostly negative criticism in my review, but I will round off by saying something positive. As evident from their later careers, the members of Ceremonial Oath do have a talent for writing catchy hooks and dynamic, structured songs, and it does show on this album. Yes, these compositions are nowhere near the level of the later works of the band members, but at least they manage to be somewhat memorable. A great example is the aforementioned chorus of “For I Have Sinned”, which, while being silly and suffering from the poor production, actually sticks to your head the first time you hear it. Another great moment is near the end of “Only Evil Prevails”, when the song suddenly stops and the final chord rings out for a long time, and then an eerie high pitched guitar slowly comes in, creating a really ominous atmosphere. It’s moments like these that show that these guys did have an ear for detail, but not yet the experience. I’ve heard many other death metal acts from this time that were much more accomplished musicians and had much better production on their releases, but were still boring as hell just because they couldn’t write anything memorable to save their lives.

To be fair, the band members of Ceremonial Oath were in their late teens when writing these songs, and they had just hit the age of 20 when they recorded The Book Of Truth, which was their first major studio recording. It is only to be expected that they wouldn’t strike gold on their first try. Some musicians are able to produce quality material already at a young age. Others have to work for a couple of years and polish their craft until it has fully matured. I don’t mind if people love this album; it’s their right to do so if they wish. Personally however, I find The Book Of Truth to be rather mediocre, especially when compared to other death metal albums that were released the same year by acts such as Utumno, Unanimated, Excruciate, Eucharist etc.

The Book Of Truth remains relevant for a heavy metal discussion, but in my opinion, this is based almost entirely on the band members’ later careers. I’m not the biggest fan of this album, but despite this, it is still fun to sometimes listen to it just to hear how it all started out. There were some good ideas on this disc, but they never reached their true potential due to the poor production and performance. What was good about Ceremonial Oath is exactly what Dronjak, Strömblad, Iwers, and Nordberg took with them to their new bands.

Ceremonial Oath have recently developed a type of cult following among black metal fans, presumably on the account of this album as well as their previous efforts (the "Carpet" CD had very little to do with black metal at all). I've even spoken with a few people who consider this album a second wave Swedish landmark, sitting high up there with "The Somberlain" and "The Priest of Satan." On the other hand, there's the old Swedish death fans like myself, some of which would say that this CD is just as important as "Dark Recollections" from Carnage. I personally don't share either of these sentiments and do not hold "The Book of Truth" in such high regard; and while I do think it's a decent effort, it comes from a band that never really left the sidelines in the Swedish death and black metal scene.

Let's look at the bad points first. What bugs me about this release is the second-rate musicianship. The drummer is so fucking sloppy sometimes that I feel like I'm listening to a "Soulside Journey" jam session at 4:00 AM. It's not so bad when he's at mid-tempo, but once he starts blasting I have a hard time figuring out what the hell is actually happening (i.e. a person drumming or somebody smashing porcelain). The vocalist sounds like he's not even opening his mouth all the way, and half the time it seems like he just got out of bed before laying down the vocals in the studio. The only time I can understand him is when he slowly sings a chorus line, or when accompanied by a group choir. Another thing that I don't like is that half the songs sound uninspired and not memorable in the least bit. That includes basically everything that wasn't re-recorded from their Desecrator demo and "The Lost Name of God" EP. As much as I try to get into some of the songs, it's just filler riff after filler riff. And whenever Oscar's horrible vocals kick in, sometimes I just want to take the CD out and throw it in the trash can.

With that said, there are in fact some redeeming qualities about "The Book of Truth." For one, the production. In the booklet it states that it was recorded at a place called Rainy Day Studios. I've never heard of it, but whoever produced it did a pretty good job. All of the instruments sound nice and clear, especially the bass guitars. The vocals are unfortunately a little high in the mix, but I honestly don't know how you could make them sound any better because they sound like shit to begin with. At least the vocalist has something else going for him, which is the lead guitar. The guitarwork on this album is pretty fucking killer, that is whenever they're not churning out those boring filler riffs. On top of that, the CD actually offers a number of decent, catchy songs:

The album begins strong with an orchestral intro piece. The symphonic melody is layered with a slow guitar riff that creates a nice sense of depth and distance. Following the intro is "The Invocator", which is one of the best songs on the album. It kicks off with a crushing heavy riff that's very simplistic but effective in setting off the dark tone for this album. Then, just as you're starting to feel the depth of the song, a punk-like bass solo appears out of nowhere. The solo itself is pretty cool and would sound great if Ceremonial Oath played thrash. But because that's not the case it comes off as being very out of place and nearly ruins the mood. Luckily, the rest of the song offers more dark, death metal-style riffing during the verses and chorus. There is minimal use of keyboards behind one of the main riffs, but it's not nearly as eerie sounding as the keyboard effects used in the intro. The song picks up the pace again by a series of killer thrash-like guitar solos that weave their way into the ending sections. Despite the few weaknesses, this is an above-average track.

"For I Have Sinned / The Praise" is another good song that starts off with some interesting and catchy guitarwork reminiscent of Sorcery or early Tiamat. No more bass solos this time around, and once the vocals appear everything starts to nicely fall into place. The riffs, a mixture of the traditional chunky Swedish style and some faster thrashy ones along the lines of Slayer, are all top notch and very easy to get into. Somewhere in the middle of the track, a totally killer guitar solo ensues that's very rock 'n' roll/blues-like in nature. Without hearing it, you're probably thinking it's completely useless and out of place. But surprisingly, it has a lot of energy behind it and reminds me very much of the similar type of guitarwork used on Tiamat's "Astral Sleep" album. One of the only problems I have with this track is the style of vocals used in the chorus, which consists of 3 or 4 guys just yelling "For I have sinned" in a very hardcore-like fashion. Again, this type of stuff works well for Vio-Lence or Carnivore, but not this band.

"The Lost Name of God" is a song that originally appeared on the 7" of the same name. It begins with a very haunting organ melody. This is another song with some outstanding riffing and crazy guitar solos. There's 6 or 7 different riffs here, and with each one they seem to get better and better. The vocals aren't as bad this time, and the drums and bass are pounding away at full blast through most of the track. I think this is my favorite song on the entire album, although I did enjoy the EP version slightly more. At the end of the day, there really isn't anything bad that I can say about it. As soon as it finishes up, the album's title track kicks in while still maintaining the full-throttle momentum of the last song. At 1:51, it's the shortest track on the CD, but you'll find yourself thrashing away to every single second of it.

The last song, "Hellbound" is an ambitious instrumental consisting of lots of cool solos and acoustic guitar sections. The drum solo around the 1:00 minute mark is a little pointless, but other than that this track is a good way to finish off the album.

In the end, this CD is hit or miss. If you focus on the few songs above, the quality guitarwork and good production then you should find the album fairly enjoyable. But if you concentrate on the sloppy drumming, the atrocious vocals, the subtle hardcore touches and the filler tracks then you'll probably never want to listen to this CD again. I would recommend getting a tape/CD-R/MP3/whatever copy of this before purchasing it. I'm assuming it probably goes for ridiculous prices on eBay, but I wouldn't stash away any money for it just yet. If you did ended up buying it for whatever amount of money and share my feelings for this album, then at least the cover art will look good on the CD wall.

Ceremonial Oath was basically the premiere melodic death metal band, laying the blue print for many, many acts to follow. Interestingly enough, "The Book Of Truth" has little in common with albums from In Flames and Dark Tranquillity that were released around the same time. From the muddy production to the crunchy guitars and the ugly vocals of Oscar Dronjak, there are many aspects of this album that are highly appreciable. Unfortunately, it seems as though the "Gothenburg" craze of the mid nineties was just about to kick in full force after this album was released, therefore leaving little desire on part of the band members to record anything after the album "Carpet" which arrived in 1995.

There are few tendencies on this album to focus strictly on lead guitar, and if such an occasion arises, it is in a tasteful manner that does not detract from the music. There are riffs aplenty, and solid drum and bass work to keep the album reasonably paced even if things seem a bit unorganized or directionless. The first actual track, "Chapter I: The Invocator" offers a nice glimpse into the sound of the album without moving too far across the map. "For I Have Sinned - The Praise" is probably my least favorite song on the album. The chorus is pathetically cheesy (FOR I HAVE SINNED!!! BLAH BLAH BLAH), and the pace of the song doesn't keep one's interest for very long. Thankfully, things pick up with "Enthroned". The main riff is devastating, and a healthy dose of melody makes this one of the finest songs on the album. The solo around the three minute mark is also pretty great. When everything stops around the three and a half minute mark, and the bass leads into another excellent riff, I can't help but appreciate the quality of diversity that exists on nearly every track.

I won't go into to too much more detail, for the sake of making the review readable, but other solid tracks on the album include "Only Evil Prevails", "Lords of Twilight", which features excellent drumming, and "The Lost Name of God". It may be difficult to track down, but its worth hearing as one of the truly worthy albums of this genre.