Friday, October 31, 2014

Oath of Cruelty – Hellish Decimation



You’ve got to be pretty fucking special for me to bust out the ol keyboard for a 2 song 7”. Fortunately, special doesn’t even begin to describe Houston, Texas, Oath of Cruelty. If you heard the most underrated tape in the history of metal, Altar of Impalement, then you already know.  Comprised of notables from within the Houston metal scene, Oath of Cruelty combine to create the ultimate in death thrash.  THE ULTIMATE in death thrash.  Mo’ thrash; less death and grind than Blaspherian and P.L.F.

This new 2 song 7”, Hellish Decimation, features 2 unreleased tracks from the Altar of Impalement recording sessions, so they naturally coincide with each other. It’s like finding out your down-with-metal girlfriend has an incestual twin. Title track "Hellish Decimation" races in with a fast, death thrash tempo, before getting to that holy shit, circle pit moment at the 1:10 mark.  They mix up the shred by adding some impressive guitar solo work, with the groove still chugging in the background. Pure thrash violence. Slight vocal changeup on "Skeletal Armies" with Dave C. (P.L.F., Morbosidad) taking over. This song again features phenomenal guitar work on top of unadulterated shredding. Both of these songs absolutely kill.

If you’re a fan of any type of metal, any type, you need to check out Oath of Cruelty. These dudes keep it super DIY with their releases and with the work they put in with their live show. In my mind I’m telling myself, that while these aren’t 2 new tracks, that anything surfacing from these guys might be a prelude to a full length record. Or even a 6 song EP or something, anything really. Album art is by Daniel “Sawblade” Shaw and its released on Warfare Noise Productions. Don't be a dope, seek these dudes out.