Eternal Oath
Encyclopedia
Eternal Oath were a symphonic
/melodic death metal
band, formed in 1991 in Stockholm
, Sweden
. In their 15 year existence, they released 3 albums, 1 demo, 1 EP and 1 compilation. The group had been in the process of recording a 4th full length but ultimately disbanded in January 2007. The fate of the recorded songs is currently unknown.
Two notable past members include Peter Nagy (former multi-instrumentalist for Mörk Gryning) and Ted Lundström (current Amon Amarth
bassist
).
), Petri Tarvainen (guitar
) and Joni Mäensivu (vocals
). In February 1994, the band recorded a 3 song promotional tape which secured a deal with Rat Pack Records for one EP. In March 1995, So Silent was recorded. Financial problems with the company would delay the EP's release; The group subsequently broke their contract with the label and self-released the EP the following year financed by Nwrapped Media.
In March 1998, the band entered the studio to record their first full-length album, Through The Eyes Of Hatred for Singapore
-based label Pulverised Records. The album would be released in early 1999.
In the fall of 2001, the band entered Studio Fredman
in Gothenburg
, Sweden
to record their second full-length, Righteous. Containing 10 tracks including a cover of Paradise Lost
´s "Eternal", the album received a wide response all over the world.
Righteous was mixed and engineered by Fredrik Nordström
, known for contribution to albums by In Flames
, Arch Enemy, At The Gates
and Dark Tranquillity
.
A few months later, Pulverised Records went bankrupt, and in early 2004 the band signed with Sound Pollution/Black Lodge Records, who in turn purchased the entire Eternal Oath back catalog. In June of the same year, Eternal Oath returned to Studio Fredman once again to record their 3rd (and last) LP, Wither, which would be released March 29, 2005 through Black Lodge.
After over 15 years of activity, the band dissolved in early 2007, with some previous members going on to form a new project,
Faceshift, later in the year.
"Eternal Oath rejoins forces again
Once one of the leading melodic death-metal acts from Sweden, has decided to reunite after a 5-year absence.
The band has stated that: "After 15 years, we needed this break. From the band, from each other, and to be able
to focus on other things in life for a while. Now we are back with a new perspective, recharged batteries and
tons of new ideas. It has been truly fun to exchange ideas and start rehearsing again."
This year Eternal oath is celebrating their 20th anniversary since the band was formed and they will perform their
reunion gig on Reunion Botkyrka on August 20th.
The new line-up consists of 4 of the founding members, With Peter Nagy-Eklof and Petri Tarvainen on guitar, Ted
Jonsson on drums and Joni Mäensivu on vocals. They also have strengthened their forces with 2 new members, Mika Kajanen
on bass and Johan Adler on keyboards. "The new guys brings so much to the table, they fill the gaps perfectly and makes
the band feel solid and complete, something we´ve been striving for a long time".
The band has started working on new material and a new album is planned to see daylight in the beginning of 2013... "
, the band's direction has varied on each album, going from blues
/folk music
progressions similar to Opeth
to symphonic
experimentation like Hypocrisy
. The band had also utilized female gothic metal
vocals and traits of doom/death metal.
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
/melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
band, formed in 1991 in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. In their 15 year existence, they released 3 albums, 1 demo, 1 EP and 1 compilation. The group had been in the process of recording a 4th full length but ultimately disbanded in January 2007. The fate of the recorded songs is currently unknown.
Two notable past members include Peter Nagy (former multi-instrumentalist for Mörk Gryning) and Ted Lundström (current Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth is a Swedish viking metal band from Tumba, Sweden founded in 1992, and takes its name from the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström...
bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
).
History
Eternal Oath was formed in 1991 by Ted Jonsson (drumsDrum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), Petri Tarvainen (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) and Joni Mäensivu (vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
). In February 1994, the band recorded a 3 song promotional tape which secured a deal with Rat Pack Records for one EP. In March 1995, So Silent was recorded. Financial problems with the company would delay the EP's release; The group subsequently broke their contract with the label and self-released the EP the following year financed by Nwrapped Media.
In March 1998, the band entered the studio to record their first full-length album, Through The Eyes Of Hatred for Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
-based label Pulverised Records. The album would be released in early 1999.
In the fall of 2001, the band entered Studio Fredman
Studio Fredman
Studio Fredman is a recording studio in Göteborg, Sweden, owned and operated by producer Fredrik Nordström.It is popular among Swedish metal bands, with artists such as At the Gates, Deathstars, Nightrage, Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, Amon Amarth, In Flames, Zonaria,...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
to record their second full-length, Righteous. Containing 10 tracks including a cover of Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
´s "Eternal", the album received a wide response all over the world.
Righteous was mixed and engineered by Fredrik Nordström
Fredrik Nordström
Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström, born on 5 January 1967, is a Swedish record producer and guitar player for the heavy metal band Dream Evil. Nordström is one of the leading melodic death metal producers in Sweden, and he has worked with some of the genre's top acts, including At the Gates, Arch Enemy,...
, known for contribution to albums by In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
, Arch Enemy, At The Gates
At the Gates
At the Gates is an extreme metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg death-metal sound. Their early albums lean towards a death metal sound, but later albums sound more like melodic death metal.Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a...
and Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are one of the longest-standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene, and are one of the most integral pioneers of the melodic death metal genre of music....
.
A few months later, Pulverised Records went bankrupt, and in early 2004 the band signed with Sound Pollution/Black Lodge Records, who in turn purchased the entire Eternal Oath back catalog. In June of the same year, Eternal Oath returned to Studio Fredman once again to record their 3rd (and last) LP, Wither, which would be released March 29, 2005 through Black Lodge.
After over 15 years of activity, the band dissolved in early 2007, with some previous members going on to form a new project,
Faceshift, later in the year.
2011
Official statement from the band:"Eternal Oath rejoins forces again
Once one of the leading melodic death-metal acts from Sweden, has decided to reunite after a 5-year absence.
The band has stated that: "After 15 years, we needed this break. From the band, from each other, and to be able
to focus on other things in life for a while. Now we are back with a new perspective, recharged batteries and
tons of new ideas. It has been truly fun to exchange ideas and start rehearsing again."
This year Eternal oath is celebrating their 20th anniversary since the band was formed and they will perform their
reunion gig on Reunion Botkyrka on August 20th.
The new line-up consists of 4 of the founding members, With Peter Nagy-Eklof and Petri Tarvainen on guitar, Ted
Jonsson on drums and Joni Mäensivu on vocals. They also have strengthened their forces with 2 new members, Mika Kajanen
on bass and Johan Adler on keyboards. "The new guys brings so much to the table, they fill the gaps perfectly and makes
the band feel solid and complete, something we´ve been striving for a long time".
The band has started working on new material and a new album is planned to see daylight in the beginning of 2013... "
Style
While firmly rooted in Swedish melodic death metalMelodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
, the band's direction has varied on each album, going from blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
/folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
progressions similar to Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
to symphonic
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
experimentation like Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
. The band had also utilized female gothic metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
vocals and traits of doom/death metal.
Studio Albums
- Through The Eyes of Hatred (1999, Pulverised Records)
- Righteous (2002, Greater Art Records)
- Wither (2005, Black Lodge Records)
Compilation
- Re-Released Hatred (So Silent and Through The Eyes Of Hatred on one CD) (2006, Black Lodge Records)
Members
- Joni Mäensivu - vocals
- Ted Jonsson - drums
- Peter Nagy - guitar
- Petri Tarvainen - guitar
- Mika Kajanen - Bass guitar
- Johan Adler - Keyboards
Past members
- Timo Hovinen - vocals
- Peter Wendin - bass guitar
- Stefan Norgren - drums (previously keyboards)
- Pelle Almquist - keyboards
- Ted Lundström - bass guitar (1991–1993)
- Daniel Dziuba - guitar (1991–1993)
- Martin Wiklander - bass guitar (1993–1996)