Friday, March 20, 2009

Sacred Oath signs European distribution deal

Sacred Oath (who credit their loyal fans in Europe for bringing the band back to life in 2007) have just signed an exclusive European distribution/publishing deal with CMM Marketing in Hannover Germany for their new studio album 'Sacred Oath." The album will be released on May 22nd via H'Art Musik/SAOL.

Both the standard AND the deluxe editions of the album will be marketed throughout Europe by CMM, a company best known for their work with Iron Maiden, Rob Halford, Yngwie Malmsteen, Overkill, Metal Church, the Wacken festival, and more.

"Germany has long been at the center of the European metal scene," says Rob Thorne, lead singer/guitarist of the band. "To form a partnership with a company like CMM is a great step forward in making our music more available over there. Until now, most of our fans have had to hunt our discs down through mail order services and import companies. It's amazing how long we survived underground."

Sacred Oath first traveled to Germany in 2007 during the European leg of their World IndiVisible Tour, where they co-headlined the Keep It True Festival in Dittigheim with Leatherwolf and Hirax. That performance was immortalized in the critically acclaimed 'Till Death Do Us Part - a live CD released in 2008 and recognized by Apple iTunes as one of 8 Top Live Metal Albums alongside catalog discs from Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden.

Exclusive distribution of that live album is also a part of the agreement with CMM.Plans are underway for the band to appear in Europe again in 2009.

"We love the fans over there," says Thorne. "They hung in there for a long time waiting to see us. Many of them brought original pressings of our debut on vinyl that they had been holding for twenty years, waiting for us to sign them. It was an honor. I hope we'll be back at some of the clubs we played last time – Negasonic in Belgium, Rock City in Switzerland – great little clubs!"

Angel Thorne Music will remain the parent label for the band, organizing and managing all distribution and licensing agreements.

According to Rob, "I've been doing it this way since 2001. It's been a hard climb, and we're just beginning to see the light of day, but I wouldn't have it any other way. We're very much the business model of today's music industry. Sure, we take a lot of risk, but we're not whoring ourselves out anymore like in the beginning with Mercenary Records. THAT was a nightmare, and it crippled the band for years."

Sacred Oath recently announced a release date of May 12th for North America but have not announced a distribution partner yet.

For more information please visit www.sacredoath.net

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I interviewed these guys recently their musical style is awesome truly rock and roll! Nice site!

Mickie said...

Very cool! Where can we find your interview?? Please send me a link. And thank you for the site compliment.

Keep on rockin'
Mickie