Not often I get to review a band from my hometown—in fact I don't think I ever have. Blind Oath are a young band from here in Tulsa, and while I wasn't sure what I was in for, this is a straight-up metal album that shows real promise. This is roughly in the vein of bare-knuckled metal bands like Grey Wolf, with upfront riffage and harsh-but-still-tuneful vocals. The riffs and songwriting are mostly serviceable, and the vocals grew on me, but the lead work and lead playing by Robert Gutierrez is on another level, and whenever he busts out one of his furious, precise melodic solos, the whole thing comes alive. Generally I like this better when the band slows down and gets more doomy and epic, like on "Tombs of the Blind Oath," but overall this disc is a solid debut and I hope it gets the band attention.