Savage Oath - Divine Battle (2024)^{Release ID: 50773}

Since getting tired of the traditional heavy metal sounds of The Guardians clan and flipping over to The Fallen I have not listened to a heavy metal album for some two years or so now. The genre that brought me into this thirty-five-year journey to the very extremity of death, black, thrash, etc, etc has become very neglected in recent years. There have not even been any real pangs of nostalgia to go back to my roots so to speak, so I came to Savage Oath out of pure curiosity, I guess. Once my initial fears of this being some power metal opus that was going to be pissing gloss everywhere were allayed, I soon found myself settling into the catchy and rhythmical tunes that make up Divine Battle.

A quick scan of the internet showed me that Phil Ross (one time of Manilla Road) is one of the members of the group, handling the very audible yet not overbearing bass duties here. Brendan Radigan handles vocals who I am aware of from his time with Pagan Altar and Sumerlands (the latter of whom I find far too watered down for my metal tastes) and reminds me of a less weird Mark Shelton in a way. His croons are “sneery” most certainly, but he holds a tune better at least. As a unit, Savage Oath give a professional performance with Leeland Campana of Visigoth fame handling guitar duties and the unknown Austin Wheeler occupying the drum stool. The production job is clear without being polished, the instrumentation carrying an earthy edge across the record. The drums seem a little stifled at times in the grander scheme of things, however this is my only real quibble here.

Things touch on the epic during Blood for the King as the song enters a choral section around the five-minute mark, the guitar and vocals soaring for a few seconds, heralding promise that does not quite land if I am honest but the intent is most certainly there. If I am honest, the album probably needs a couple more moments like this (and for them to be carried through) as although I enjoy most of Divine Battle there is still a sense of it coming up a little short somehow, like an aspect of the delivery is missed or misdirected. For all its driving rhythm and consistency there are not any real moments that grab you by the throat. Instead, there is almost a sense of contentment at the band sitting in the groove that they carve for themselves.

It took a while for us to get here, but we finally have the debut full length record from US Power Metal's Savage Oath. 

Now I might have said sometime ago that the American strain of Power Metal does not provide the same kind of positive reaction as the European counterpart. Something about it being super derivative and not doing much in the way of standing out from its influences. Power metal in the United States became much better when it dropped the cheesy pretense and became speed/thrash metal. But Savage Oath are trying to be a fading spark in a genre that is now almost exclusively carried by legacy acts.

In a way, Divine Battles reminds me of the newest releases by Cirith Ungol. The mixing is very underappreciated with how it sounds modern while also feeling deeply nostalgic. Guitars are not the focal point of this mix and that allows for the tasteful bass lines to give the album some dynamic weight. The percussion is pretty solid, if a little overbearing. But that only seems to be the case early on in the album on "Knight of the Night" and "Wings of Vengeance."

With such a solid foundation, it really pushes the vocals to the front and they sound excellent. Brendan Radigan has a varied vocal timbre and fits the landscape of this project quite well. There is quite a bit of influence from the power metal great vocalists, but also provides his own style and personality to the performance. That said, I feel like the variety in the vocals is a double edged sword; for example, while "Wings of Vengeance" has a wild timbre and can even be reminiscent of classic Rob Halford, songs like "Madness of the Crowd" have passages that sound deeply out of tune. It just sounds bad and gives me the feeling of sky high aspirations by the group that were just not met.

But beyond that, I don't see much else in the way of obvious criticisms. The album can run a little bit too long at times, but that feels like an issue for a handful of songs instead of a critique of the entire album. If you like power metal in the 21st century, but would like to hear something that isn't directly related to the past (i.e. Blind Guardian, Helloween, Metal Church), then Savage Oath might just be your next favourite band. Just hoping that the next album does something new and different.

Best Songs: Wings of Vengeance, Blood for the King, Savage Oath