Oathbreaker played Great Scott – 4/9

Belgium’s Oathbreaker headlined a jam-packed show at Great Scott last Sunday with support from Brooklyn’s Sannhet and Louisville, KY’s Jaye Jayle. 

Oathbreaker’s multi-pronged sonic attack is a difficult one to pin down. By turns eerily cavernous and positively face-melting, their songs evoke a strain of atmospheric black metal that ventures toward the extremes of both atmosphere and heaviness while pulling influences from the realm of punk as well. Last year’s excellent Rheia is their best-articulated statement of that style yet, and received most of the figurative spotlight during their enthralling Great Scott set. Nothing resembling an actual spotlight disrupted the near-total darkness in which the band performed, but the juxtaposition of Oathbreaker’s spooky ambiance and scorched-earth fury was best experienced in that sort of setting.

I only caught the conclusion of Jaye Jayle’s opening set, but Young Widows vocalist/guitarist Evan Patterson’s gothic country project felt like a solid if unconventional fit for an opener (as was the case for last year’s Sumac show). Sannhet rounded out the eclectic bill with their strobe-lit interstellar post-metal, which succeeded remarkably well at marrying visuals to sonics without coming across as a gimmick.

Photos from all three sets below.