Oathean is a Korean black metal

Black metal

Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 band that formed in 1993 originally under the name Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

, for the Norse/Scandinavian god. They went on a short hiatus and then changed their name three years later. Unlike most black metal

Black metal

Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 bands, Oathean's lyrics deal with sadness

Sadness

Sadness is emotional pain associated with, or characterized by feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, helplessness, sorrow, and rage. When sad, people often become outspoken, less energetic, and emotional...

 and depression

Depression (mood)

Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...

 rather than satanic

Satanism

Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 and anti-Christian themes. Their particular style of metal is influenced by folk metal

Folk metal

Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...

, and incorporates Korean world music with the use of traditional Korean instruments such as the haegeum

Haegeum

The haegeum is a traditional Korean string instrument, resembling a fiddle. It has a rodlike neck, a hollow wooden soundbox, and two silk strings, and is held vertically on the knee of the performer and played with a bow....

 and daegeum

Daegeum

The daegeum is a large bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. It has a buzzing membrane that gives it a special timbre...

.

Founding member Do-Su Kim started and runs his own label, Jusin Productions, which releases much of the band's output, and has joined in for sessions with Holymarsh.

Current members

• Kim Do-Su – vocals, guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
   (1993-)
• Lee Hee-Doo – lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  
• Lim Ji-Nah – vocals
• Bak Yong-Hee – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Bak Jong-Ho – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Former members

• Bak Jae-Ryeon – drums
• Lee Soo-Hyeong – drums
• Jeon Seong-Man – drums
• Heo Ji-Woo – drums
• Baek Hyeon – guitar
• Kim Dong-Hyeon – drums
• Kim Woon – drums
• Kim Min-Suk – guitar
• Kim Hee-Tae – guitar
• Lee Bun-Do – guitar
• Lee Jun-Hyeok – lead guitar
• Kim Min-Su – bass, vocals
• Park Yong-Lee – bass guitar
• Song Seong-Hwan – bass guitar
• Moon Jong-Su – bass guitar
• Gu Hae-Ryeong – keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  

Session members

• Naamah − drums
• Son Ji-Yeong − haegeum
  Haegeum
  The haegeum is a traditional Korean string instrument, resembling a fiddle. It has a rodlike neck, a hollow wooden soundbox, and two silk strings, and is held vertically on the knee of the performer and played with a bow....
  
  
• Lee Yu-Gyeong − daegeum
  Daegeum
  The daegeum is a large bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. It has a buzzing membrane that gives it a special timbre...
  
  
• Kim Eun-Yeong − daegeum
• Kim Deok-Su − keyboards
• Gwak Ju-Lim − vocals

Discography

• Demo '97 (Demo, 1997)
• The Eyes of Tremendous Sorrow (CD, independent, 1998)
• When All Memories Are Shattered (EP, Jusin, 2001)
• Ten Days in Lachrymation (CD, Jusin, 2001)
• The Last Desperate 10 Years as Ever (CD, Shinbiro, 2003; contains new songs, the 1997 demo, and remastered old songs)
• Fading Away into the Grave of Nothingness (CD, Jusin, 2004)
• The Eyes of Tremendous Sorrow + As a Solitary Tree Against the Sky (CD, Jusin, 2005; contains five new songs and the first album)
• Regarding All the Sadness of the World (CD, Jusin, 2008)
• Oathean (CD, Jusin, 2010)

External links

• Oathean official website
• Oathean's official MySpace page
• Oathean at Encyclopaedia Metallum
  Encyclopaedia Metallum
  Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives is a website which lists bands from various forms of heavy metal music...