Belgian Blackened Death project Archaic Oath was born out of an idea that developed back in 2005 after a brief discussion between Arneriach of Death Doom outfit Marche Funèbre and Lykormas from instrumental Post-Metallers Hemelbestormer and Black/Doom band Rituals of the Dead Hand.
Archaic Oath – Determined To Death And Beyond
Release Date: 24 April 2026
Words: Jools Green
They had a shared desire to create an offering that reflected Blackened Death Metal in its most primal form, in the vein of bands like Naglfar, Dissection, Unanimated, something with a very icy and primal Swedish sound. Finally, twenty-one years later, this idea has come to fruition in the shape of their debut offering, Determined To Death And Beyond.
The forty-five-minute Determined To Death And Beyond delivers seven original pieces, along with an Emperor cover. Beginning with Above The Ice, this opens with icy winds and eerie sounds building rapidly to equally icy riffs. A dark, intense driver with a haunting repeat melody and acidic vocals, this makes for a hugely engaging piece.
Featuring guest vocals from Jitte Boon and Cin Monrose, the next offering, Wrath Of The Witches, is initially a fast, undulating driver that switches direction and pace with slick precision, with the vocals adding punch and impact.
Continuing with an up-tempo drive densely built from layers of riffing, the next piece, Forest Of Horrors, is as dark and haunting as it is engaging. The protraction on the vocals and the acerbic screams are unnervingly impactful and contrast well against the dark melody.
I like the second half drop-back. It is reflective and contemplative as well as a good contrast to the driving riffs, acerbic vocal protractions and screams which return for one final assault towards the close.
The next piece, Requiem For A Doomed Soul, is an acoustic interlude and was written and performed by Kristof Vandebeek (Hollowtone, Mahlstrøm). It is beautifully reflective, contemplative and definitely the calm before the coming storm.
In complete contrast, as well as being possibly my favourite piece of the album, is Abysmal Ascent, a marauding, thundering assault on your senses where lead guitar vies with a wall of backing riffs for dominance. The drums pound through solidly, and a blood-curdling scream announces the arrival of the vocals.
It is an intense and gripping listen, but really comes into its own around midway when the pace drops and the clean backing vocals arrive, chanting “Abysmal Ascent”. This builds the atmosphere with dark mystical intent, while the haunting second half leadwork continues to build on that atmosphere.
Continuing to deliver an icy drive is Path Of Penitence. This is an absolute maelstrom of spiralling and driving riffs that, despite the intensity, still harbours a subtle melody, with the second half spoken segment adding an element of unease. Finally, the closing leadwork is restrained but uplifting, reflecting the end of the journey of penitence.
Reflective to open, Into The Temple Of Light soon builds with rapidity to a wall of driving riffs and skin-crawling acidic screams. Opening out into another undulating, driving, intense beast of a track, contrasted with haunting reflective melodic swathes, then just after midway. It takes a sudden drop to a clean acoustic segment once again, courtesy of Kristof Vandebeek, building back up to restrained reflective waves of tremolo picking and acidic vocals.
The final piece is a cover of Emperor’s Ye Entrancemperium, and it is an interesting and well-delivered interpretation, particularly as they have added a bit of Swedish flavour to the sound of this Norwegian classic from Emperor ’97 album Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk. I do like this cover immensely.
Determined To Death And Beyond does heavily reflect both the early work of Naglfar and, very specifically, Dissection’s Storm Of The Light’s Bane. But for me, that is not a bad thing, and it still maintains a good degree of its own individuality.
But most importantly, it is a great listen end to end.
Archaic Oath release Determined To Death And Beyond on 24 April via AOP Records, and it will be available as a CD, vinyl, or digital download via Plastic Head and Edel. For more details, visit shop.aoprecords.de/gb.
Recorded by just Arneriach and Lykormas in the studio, they also intend these works to be delivered live with the addition of former members of Beltez, Sumerian Tombs, and Melechesh to the Archaic Oath lineup.
