For today’s descent into the abyss, we turn to Belgium’s rising blackened death metal entity ARCHAIC OATH — a fresh name forged by seasoned hands from acts like Hemelbestormer, Marche Funèbre, Lhaäd, and Rituals of the Dead Hand.
Though newly formed in 2025, this duo isn’t crawling out of the underground — they are the underground. With roots stretching back decades and a sound steeped in the spirit of the ‘90s melodic black metal era (think Naglfar, Dissection, Dawn), ARCHAIC OATH channel something ancient, cold, and violently alive.
Their debut full-length, Determined To Death And Beyond, arrives April 24, 2026 via AOP Records — but before it consumes everything in its path, we asked them one question.
The Question
“If your music was a landscape, what would it be — and why: forest, void, or something else entirely?”
ARCHAIC OATH answer:
“Our music could be described as a volcanic wasteland. Deadly, yet beautiful, with geysers erupting like aggressive outbursts in our music, but with a soothing wind that carries hope and a return to better times as well.”
A rare glimpse of light in the middle of devastation — or maybe just the calm before everything burns again.
ARCHAIC OATH – “Wrath Of The Witches”
With “Wrath Of The Witches,” ARCHAIC OATH sharpen their blade and strike fast.
The track surges forward with that unmistakable black metal “one-two” pulse, igniting into a relentless storm of tremolo riffs, blast-driven urgency, and searing melodic undercurrents. There’s a sense of controlled chaos here — like fire spreading across dry land — never losing momentum, never giving you a moment to breathe.
This is blackened death metal that doesn’t just nod to the past — it drags it screaming into the present, infused with decades of experience and a clear devotion to atmosphere, aggression, and melody.
Born from a reunion of minds dating back to 2005, ARCHAIC OATH is less a new band and more a rekindled pact — a return to something buried, something unfinished. Their debut album, carved out during the cold stretch of 2024–2025, promises eight tracks of ritualistic intensity, rooted in decay, memory, and the pull of origins long left to rot.
If “Wrath Of The Witches” is any omen, Determined To Death And Beyond won’t just arrive — it will erupt.
🔥 Mark the date: April 24. The wasteland awakens.