SACRED OATH To Release New Album In May

Connecticut old-school metallers SACRED OATH — Rob Thorne (vocals, guitar),Bill Smith (Guitar),Scott Waite (bass),and Kenny Evans (drums) — will release their self-titled album on May 12. The standard version contains 10 songs in a jewel case. The deluxe edition has 14 songs and is packaged in an elaborate digipack with a 16-page lyric and photo booklet. All four bonus tracks in the deluxe package are additional brand new songs. Why two editions? "Pricing, really," says Rob Thorne. "Old-school Oathbangers won't have any qualms paying $14 for the deluxe, but newcomers to the band might, and we're working on an exclusive with iTunes to feature the album at a discounted price. You just can't do that with 14 songs."

"Sacred Oath" will be available for mp3 download through all the major online retailers, but the band expects to make an announcement about an iTunes exclusive in the coming weeks.

"Much of the recording of this album has just been a whirlwind. The band is in a zone," says Thorne.

SACRED OATH's last album "…'Till Death Do Us Part" spent a few weeks on the iTunes homepage as one of eight best live metal albums in 2008.

The group recently filmed the first video off "Sacred Oath", for the track "Counting Zeros". "Yeah, it's easy to get into character for a metal video when you're standing outside in a 14-degree windchill for 13 hours straight," says Thorne. "We all had pretty bitter looks on our faces. 'Counting Zeros' is about the current mess we're in, both economically and with the war, so I guess you could say the weather was in our favor. We just had to grin and bear it." He laughs, "This is why bands use drugs!"

When questioned about the band's third album in as many years — this after a 20-year hiatus following the band's debut, "A Crystal Vision", in 1987 — Thorne responds, "What can I tell you? I can't explain the timing of it all. But it sure is working, and we're having a great fucking time!"

"Sacred Oath" standard version (jewel case):

01. Paradise Lost
02. Blood Storm
03. Voodoo Dolls
04. Counting Zeros
05. High and Mighty
06. Sacred Oath
07. Caught In The Arc
08. Buried Alive
09. What The Dark Will Undo
10. Hunt For The Fallen Angel

"Sacred Oath" deluxe edition (digipack):

01. Paradise Lost
02. Blood Storm
03. Buried Alive
04. Voodoo Dolls
05. Counting Zeros
06. Caught In The Arc
07. Mistress Of The Setting Sun
08. High and Mighty
09. Wings Of Salvation
10. Order Of The System Lords
11. Sacred Oath
12. What The Dark Will Undo
13. Scourge Of Sin
14. Hunt For The Fallen Angel