History & Biography The USA-based power/thrash metal group Sacred Oath was founded by school-mates singer/guitarist Thorne and bassist Altieri in 1985. Both washed dishes at the local Sycamore Restaurant to earn money as well. A self-titled demo in 1985 (featuring drummer Greg Kallas) was followed by another called Shadow Out Of Time in 1986. The band established its own Thrash Inc (later The Invocation) newsletter and called its fans 'Oathbangers.' Drummer Evans established distinctive artwork for the band.
Many demo tracks ended up on the group's debut album of 1987. This was followed by a demo called Two Power however. The label had gone broke. The band was a forerunner of the self-cover version trend and issued A Crystal Revision independently in 2005. With an almost twenty-year gap between releases, Sacred Oath had split the difference and rerecorded the material in the late 1990s having split up for ten years as of December 1988! The singer and guitarist issued a solo album called America The Beautiful: A Rock Opera in 1995. He was also in the band Soundscape.
The band released a new record in 2007. The line-up was almost the same as the early days except Lou Liotta contributed bass. The band toured Europe and played at Keep It True Festival in 2007 and used its recording for ...'Till Death Do Us Part. Bill Smith was the second guitarist. He had been Rob's guitar student. Scott Waite was on bass. Pete Altieri had exited due to cancer. A demo called Sacred Oath was released through Angel Thorne Music in 2009. The imprint also handled 2011's World On Fire (a concept album based on Dune), 2013's Fallen, 2015's Ravensong and 2017's Twelve Bells full-lengths. Thunder Underground - Live From NYC was a demo in 2019. In-between there was a compilation, called Spells And Incantations: The Best Of Sacred Oath, in 2012. During this time drummer Evans had to undergo rehabilitation due to a back injury sustained while on tour.
2021 had another independent release through Angel Thorne Music. It was called Return Of The Dragon. Damiano Christian joined on guitar in 2020. Scott Waite (also of Soundscape) was on bass again after originally being with the act between 2007 and 2009. Bassist Brendan Kelleher was with the band between 2009 and 2022. Sacred Oath was back with a song called Don't Be Afraid in 2025. It was produced and engineered by Rob Thorne again.
Reviews SACRED OATH - DARKNESS VISIBLE - SENTINEL STEEL 
This Sacred Oath is the same Sacred Oath that issued a full-length album in the late '80s. As fascinating as the stable line-up, the cover artwork (a toss-up whether that is Axl Rose or Denis Kucinich’s wife) and the sound are what is most marvellous about Darkness Visible is its great music and faithfulness to true heavy metal. Where some bands abandon metal or introduce so-called modern influences into the mix, this quartet has stayed the course and in the process issued a fantastic album.
Influences such as Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche and (oddly enough) Sacred Blade are present, but this is a band intent on forging its own metal upon the anvil of power, soaring vocals, action-packed leads and catchy hooks. Rob Thorne has a good voice and goes for the higher pitches, but comes just a tad short on the higher octaves. That is just as well; this album is the better for it. A couple of thrashy moments override the weaker slow interludes on a song like Prophecy. Boy, do those guitars take one back to the '80s. Along with the return of Auburn Records’ Wretch and that Icarus Witch EP Darkness Visible is the best piece of pure metal this side of the century. Forget Iron Maiden and Judas Priest’s new records and see darkness at its best. - Ali “The Metallian”
SACRED OATH - ...TILL DEATH DO US PART - ANGELTHORNE 
The last Sacred Oath album Darkness Visible was issued in 2007 through Sentinel Steel and was quite an impressive ride through traditional and pure roads. That album was such a success that it is a surprise how the live album at hand has appeared independently through singer and guitarist Rob Thorne’s own imprint. Or perhaps that is why the release is being handled in-house?
By now, many readers know that my inclination for live albums currently is unfavourable. These releases are often fillers, contractual obligations and have little reason to exist in the era of inexpensive videos. Having said that, as far as live albums go, ...Till Death Do Us Part (Live In Germany) is a good album for two reasons. Firstly, Sacred Oath has great metal that is true to its roots while being qualitatively impressive. The band plays a cool mixture of melodic heavy metal, power metal and thrashy cuts (The Omen) with style. Amazingly, Thorne’s upper range is intact. Secondly, the sound and performance are above average. The packaging beats the standard record company issue and even features enhanced material. Bottom-line: Sacred Oath needs support as a representative of real metal in the age of N Flames, Spoilwank and Keyboardalot. - Ali “The Metallian"
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