Ceremonial Oath was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 extreme metal

Extreme metal

Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...

 band who formed in 1988 under the name "Desecrator", changed their name to Ceremonial Oath in 1990 and disbanded in 1995. During their short career they released three demos, one EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 and two full-length albums. Their influence is greater than their short lifespan suggests: several of the band members would later create or join metal bands that would gain fame and fortune on the future metal scene, such as In Flames

In Flames

In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...

, an influential band to the melodic death metal

Melodic death metal

Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...

 genre; and Hammerfall

Hammerfall

Hammerfall or HammerFall may refer to:*HammerFall, a Swedish power metal band*Hammerfall, a novel in The Gene Wars universe.*Hammerfall, a city in Azeroth, the fictional world of the computer game World of Warcraft....

, a band who would greatly influence the awakened interest in power metal

Power metal

Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...

 and traditional heavy metal.

Final line-up

• Anders Fridén
  Anders Fridén
  Anders Fridén is the vocalist/lyricist of the Swedish band In Flames-Early career:Fridén was originally the vocalist for Dark Tranquillity. He performed on their debut album, Skydancer, but left the band soon after. Two years later he joined In Flames...
  
   – vocals (1993–1995)
• Anders Iwers
  Anders Iwers
  Anders Iwers is a Swedish bass player in the Heavy metal band Tiamat. He has been in and out of other Swedish death metal bands The Awesome Machine, Cemetary, and Mercury Tide. & Ceremonial Oath. Anders is the brother of Peter Iwers, bassist of In Flames in which Anders once was a part...
  
   – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   (1988–1995)
• Mikael Andersson – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   (1993–1995)
• Thomas Johansson – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
   (1993–1995)
• Markus Nordberg – drums (1989–1995)

Former members

Vocals, guitar

• Oscar Dronjak
  Oscar Dronjak
  Oscar Fredrick Dronjak is the rhythm and lead guitarist and founder of the Heavy Metal band HammerFall. Prior to the success of HammerFall, he also played and released albums with the death metal acts Ceremonial Oath and Crystal Age....
  
   – (1988–1993)

Bass

• Marcus Fredriksson - (1988–1990)
• Jesper Strömblad
  Jesper Strömblad
  Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad is a Swedish musician who is currently the guitarist for the bands Dimension Zero & The Resistance...
  
   - (1990–1993)

Drums

• Ulf Assarsson - (1988–1989)

Session members

• Tomas Lindberg
  Tomas Lindberg
  Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg is a Swedish musician who has fronted many heavy metal bands. He has been active as a musician and composer since the late 1980s. He teaches at a high school.-Career:...
  
   – vocals on three songs from Carpet
  Carpet (album)
  -Track listing:# "The Day I Buried" – 6:06# "Dreamsong" – 3:44# "Carpet" – 3:30# "The Shadowed End" – 3:16# "One of Us/Nightshade" – 3:54# "Immortalized" – 3:48# "Hallowed Be Thy Name" – 6:46 -Credits:Ceremonial Oath...
  
  (1995)

Discography

as Desecrator

• Wake The Dead (Demo, 1989)
• Black Sermons (Demo, 1990)

as Ceremonial Oath

• Promo 1991 (Demo, 1991)
• Lost Name of God (EP, Corpse Grinder Records, 1992)
• The Book of Truth
  The Book of Truth
  The Book of Truth is the debut studio album by Ceremonial Oath. The album was released in 1993 through Modern Primitive Records.This album is extremely rare and the CD-ROM version normally fetches upwards of $200 on eBay.-Track listing:...
  
  (CD, Modern Primitive Records, 1993)
• Carpet
  Carpet (album)
  -Track listing:# "The Day I Buried" – 6:06# "Dreamsong" – 3:44# "Carpet" – 3:30# "The Shadowed End" – 3:16# "One of Us/Nightshade" – 3:54# "Immortalized" – 3:48# "Hallowed Be Thy Name" – 6:46 -Credits:Ceremonial Oath...
  
  (CD, Black Sun Records, 1995)