Interviews: Dark Oath

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Symphonic Death Metal band Dark Oath from Portugal. Check out this band and follow them on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you plan it or come out just like that?

Actually, back in 2008, José (the other founding member of the band) and I were part of an online metal forum, where Dani Evans (at the time bassist of Alestorm, later on guitarist) was also a member. One day we asked for a few suggestions for that small community, and he was the one to suggest Dark Oath.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

At the time, melodic death metal and folk metal were the genres we definitely listened to the most. Since then our taste has widened quite a bit, but the foundations for our songwriting are still deep within those two genres.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Although the band has had quite a few line-up changes throughout the years, the original line-up was made of childhood friends, besides our first singer, whom we met online looking for one. Not long after our first EP was released, I invited Sara as our new singer (also a childhood friend, in fact, we are now married). After that, every other member joined either by meeting them online or through common friends.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Difficult question to answer, there is no one specific band, but here are a few of them: 

Sara - Dark Tranquillity (because it was her first real love with metal music)

Joël - Wintersun (because anything that Jari Mäenpää does is absolute genius and their first album was extremely formative for me as a musician)

Afonso - Vildhjarta (because it has been the band he's listening to the most lately)

Sérgio - The Black Dahlia Murder (Because it was the most formative band for him as a musician)

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Well, since our whole theme is a different history/mythology per record, that's the main thing that inspires me, the civilization we choose to write about. Besides that lots of ideas can spark out of nowhere for me, from a movie, from another song, from a videogame soundtrack, etc.

6. Where was your last gig?

It was at Shores of Death Metal Fest, in Figueira da Foz (Portugal) in February. It was a festival we organized as a release party for our new album.

7. Where would you like to act?

Anywhere and everywhere. Small club shows, to bigger festivals. We love to play live and to travel. But right now our goal would be to finally play in Norway, Sweden, and Finland since we've never been there.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Any band really, we respect every musician's art.

9. Whom not?

No one, as long as they're respectable people who do not harm others with their art.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

In my case, I only truly suffered from it when we took a two-year break from live shows from 2014 to 2016. We were about to play our first album live for the first time after those two years, and for some reason, I was extremely nervous. After that show, it all came back to normal. Regarding tips, I'm not really sure what to say. I guess every case is different, but in general, I like to think that if you think about it, you can make it happen, meaning if you force yourself to think about being confident on stage, eventually your body will follow.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

A lot of bands/artists influenced us, but the main formative ones were Wintersun, Amon Amarth, Ensiferum, Insomnium, Gojira, Rotting Christ, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Septic Flesh. All for different reasons, but all equally important in creating our own "language".

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Nothing comes to mind really. So far our fans have always been super supportive and respectful with us.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Like I said, our fans are always supportive and respectful, we couldn't ask for better fans.

14. What do you think of our site?

Webzines like Breathing The Core are extremely important to spread lesser-known bands' music. They're an instrumental part of keeping the underground and communities alive. For that we thank you.

15. Something to add?

Thank you for the interview, and to everyone reading this, please go check out our latest album "Ages of Man"!