Slaughter of the Innocents / Obscure Oath

Obscure Oath

Old-school grindcore
65


The wild and chaotic realm is opened by the German band Obscure Oath and a glance over the track lengths reveals that their music is rather short as it does not move beyond 1:25 minutes. Furthermore, the band does not seem to be that active. Even though they had been founded in 1996 and the first demo had been spread in 1997, only one additional demo, aside from this split, has seen the light of day since. Maybe it is quality over quantity, then?

The music is some straightforward old-school death metal with grindcore elements as well as distorted screams. Everything is fast, kept short and in some respect rather powerful as well as 'friendly'. Just listen to the opening intro. A piano plays a motive from some classic piece of art and even though the Germans' concept is much more aggressive than the opening idea, it remains in the back of the head all the time. Some sparks from the hardcore and grindcore scene make an appearance, which adds a certain drive to the performance. Various types of combinations of vocals, a tight fast drumming and a good production. Maybe everything is a bit too polished and nice.



Slaughter of the Innocents

Chaotic violent grindcore
60

The second band is of a quite different nature and right from the start they set the stage for their kind of music: a sample from the Warhammer 40K universe – from some videos, when I recall this correctly – and the machine is let loose. Actually, this is quite appropriate because the music of the German band 'Slaughter of the Innocents' is a real blast and without any sense of mercy.

More furious, more grindcore elements, a dirtier sound and also shorter at lengths; (0:04 – 3:49). According to the notes Soti's part had been recorded in a rehearsal room and it is possible to hear that. Unpolished and with some balancing issues their music had been fixated, which adds a nice contrast to the first band on the one hand, but has nevertheless some slight negative effects on how the music is perceived on the other. A difference to the first band is also the constant bombardment of the listener with no mercy in sight. It is hardly possible to catch some breath, it is hardly possible to relax at any given point on their part of this split. Similar to the first band on this album also here the influences are rather taken from the old-school branch of the genre than from the modern/recent one.

To sum the impressions up:
Aggressive and powerful music from two bands, but executed in two different styles. Both of them offer rather intense music, but executed on different levels and approaches.

Based on a review originally written for ‘A dead spot of light (Number 16)’:
http://www.archive.org/details/ADeadSpotOfLight...Number16