Official press release:
Indonesian death metallers Exhumation and US blackened death bringers Funeral Chant have teamed up with Carbonized Records to unleash Sacred Oath: Temple of Death, a savage, seven-track split set for release on April 3rd.
Forged in 2008, Exhumation hails from Yogyakarta. Conceived as a project rooted in primordial darkness and uncompromising extremity, Exhumation quickly developed a distinctive presence within the Indonesian and deeper Asian underground scene. Their debut album, Hymn To Your God, was initially self-released in 2012. Despite its initial independent status, the record gained significant international attention and acclaim within the global extreme metal community. This reception eventually led to a wider official release. Three more full-lengths and several splits followed, each building upon the brutality and darkness of the last. Wrote Metal Trenches upon the band’s release of 2024’s Master’s Personae:
“Exhumation has continued to pivot towards the more rabid death/thrash of decades past while injecting a bit more melody and thicker atmosphere into their songwriting. The result is an album that’s a wild ride full of twisting and turning riffs as well as blistering solos.”
Mystification ‘Zine concurred hailing a record that’s…
“…at once a streak of black lightning, an invigorating event, and a scouring death’s spell which lingers in the carbonized crater that it leaves…one of the most compelling and convulsive death metal releases of this year.”
For the last decade, Oakland, California’s Funeral Chant has been toiling deep in the forgotten pathways of the death metal underground. Formed in 2014 by drummer Cruel Force and guitarist Doom Of Old, the band has long strove to eschew the prevailing trends of the day, steering clear of overly polished production, slamming breakdowns, and Gothenburg-style melodicism, favoring instead the raw frenzy of contemporaries like Vorum, Degial, Obliteration, and cult legends Necrovore. Locally, the band has maintained a steady live presence since late 2016, garnering a fiercely devoted following, and nods of recognition from such local icons as Dispirit, Necrot, and Ludicra. Additionally, excursions from Canada to Mexico to the Eastern U.S. have yielded yet more devotees to Funeral Chant‘s message of Chaos and Total Death.
In advance of the release of Sacred Oath: Temple of Death, Exhumation offers up “Subterranean Ways” while Funeral Chant presents “In Feverdreams…”
On Exhumation’s portion of the split, drums, rhythm guitars, and vocals were recorded at Watchtower Studio in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and engineered by Bable Sagala. Lead guitars were recorded by D. Miasma at Studio Black Mark in Scotland, and re-amped at Watchtower Studio. Bass was recorded at Castle Nightbeast II in the Cuyahoga River Valley, in Ohio. The tracks were engineered by bassist Sebek, mixed by Bable Sagala at Watchtower Studio, and mastered by James Plotkin.
Funeral Chant’s portion of the split was recorded in Forbidden Chambers, engineered and mixed by Justin Divverand, and mastered by James Plotkin.
Sacred Oath: Temple of Death will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digitally.
Find North American preorders HERE, European preorders HERE, all other international orders HERE, and digital orders HERE.
Sacred Oath: Temple of Death track listing:
- Exhumation – “Master’s Prayer”
- Exhumation – “Meditation Through Death”
- Exhumation – “Subterranean Ways”
- Exhumation – “Everlasting Wail”
- Funeral Chant – “Testimony Of Fire”
- Funeral Chant – “In Feverdreams…”
- Funeral Chant – “Sepulchral Pillars Of The Funereal Gate”
