28th June 2023

Review: “Cult Of Oblivion” by Oxblood Forge

Recorded and mixed by James Gazerro between March and April 2022 at The Red Room Attleboro Massachusetts before being mastered by Brad Boatright (Strife, Night Demon, Twitching Tongues) at Audiosiege, the fifth burnt offering from Doom-tinged Trad Metal band Oxblood Forge is titled “Cult of Oblivion“. Adorned by cover artwork by Mark W. Richards at Heavy Hand Illustration, it’s the culmination of seven years of experience in genre blending cryptic writings, the search for big riffs and scathing lyrics never far from their minds.

Building on the foundations of their last record “Decimator“, opening cut “Cult Of Oblivion” takes Oxblood Forge a few steps further down the left hand path into darker and heavier conjurings. Fast, loose and raw, it finds vocalist Kenneth MacKay offering up a myriad of voices which add intrigue to the lyrics in a style oddly reminiscent of Serji Tankian from System Of A Down. Erik Fraunfelter sets a blistering pace and it’s a case of holding onto your hat as the band play as fast as they can at times without derailing the train. The solo is real old school class before the almost tribal rhythms of “Upon The Altar” begin the build again with an extended instrumental passage. The melting pot of influences runs deep with the Boston Massachusetts natives and this one has what you could only describe as a generous helping of Classic Rock, Doom and Blues at its heart. If you can imagine Led Zeppelin covers from Eyehategod then you get the idea. “Cleanse With Fire” has a bit of Psychedelic Stoner Metal flair to it, some of MacKay’s higher pitched warbling moments feeling like nails down a chalkboard (in a good way) by this point. The gang chanted moments of “burn it down!” are made for the live arena, the build up to that crescendo a journey though meaty hooks. It’s “Mask Of Satan” that is the standout however, a vicious little ditty that is worthy of the name with low budget horror movie vibes in the lyrical narrative. If it’s not a concept EP then there is certainly enough evidence here for it to be, the intelligence of the storytelling masked by the savage nature of some of the performance [7/10]

Track Listing