{"id":544351,"date":"2026-04-22T09:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/544351\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T09:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:02:14","slug":"what-happened-to-oathbreaker-the-story-of-their-incredible-evolution-and-sad-hiatus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/544351\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened to Oathbreaker? The story of their incredible evolution and sad hiatus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, genre-splicing Belgian metallers Oathbreaker returned to the stage after almost a decade away, finally putting an end to one of the most gutting hiatuses in recent metal history. In 2016, they released third album Rheia to critical acclaim, its emotionally-charged melding of extreme metal, hardcore punk, folk and post-rock unlike anything else in the underground at the time. They looked destined for greatness, and yet just over a year later, Oathbreaker was gone, its members turning their attentions to other projects and leaving a mighty ‘What if?’ in their wake. <\/p>\n

In November 2017, mere weeks before their final show, Metal Hammer sat down with frontwoman Caro Tanghe to discuss their incredible evolution, the pain of having to relive the album on tour and why Oathbreaker decided to down tools just as it appeared things were getting exciting.<\/p>\n

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The voice on the other end of the line is haunting and delicate, just as it is on record. When Oathbreaker<\/a> singer Caro Tanghe speaks, she does so slowly and wistfully, chewing every syllable before it gracefully floats from her mouth \u2013 until, that is, we ask her if she feels intimidated by writing a follow-up to the band\u2019s latest album, Rheia.<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

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\u201cYes! It\u2019s very intimidating,\u201d she shoots back, before settling back into her usual, more laconic pace. \u201cWe made a record that I never thought we\u2019d be able to make. But I believe we have something else in us. Maybe we never make another record like Rheia again, but we can still make something beautiful, inspiring…\u201d She trails off for a second, before adding: \u201cBut I don\u2019t know what that is.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a very good chance that, unless you are an aficionado of Europe\u2019s underground hardcore scene, the name Oathbreaker would not have meant anything to you this time last year. Formed just under a decade ago in Flanders, Belgium, the band showed enough promise in their early years to ink a deal with Jacob Bannon\u2019s Deathwish label and release two decent blackened hardcore albums.<\/p>\n

But despite Caro telling us his stamp of approval was an incredible coup, Oathbreaker lacked the confidence to break from the hardcore scene\u2019s many tropes. \u201cThose albums are good for what they are,\u201d she tells us, \u201cbut we were just doing what we thought we had to do, rather than what we really felt. It\u2019s not a bad thing, but we lacked true confidence \u2013 we were always defending the boundaries of what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

We were just doing what we thought we had to do, rather than what we really felt<\/p>\n

Caro Tanghe<\/p>\n

With thousands of exciting heavy bands vying for your attention in the modern era, it seemed Oathbreaker were destined to join the ranks of metal\u2019s many nearly men. No one, seemingly even the band themselves, truly expected anything out of the ordinary from them. But then Rheia happened.<\/p>\n

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Last September, underground circles began making noises about the arrival of a special record. Those early murmurs swelled to a crescendo via word of mouth, and now Rheia is already rightly regarded as one of the most unique, moving, genre-defining records of the millennium. A record that cohesively weaved together folk, black metal, punk rock, ethereal noise and raw, unrestrained, emotion.<\/p>\n

At the epicentre of it was Caro\u2019s classically trained voice. As equal parts soaring and sublime as it was anguished, her astonishing delivery documented a previously untapped well of repressed pain, triggered, as she tells us, by a conversation with guitarist Gilles Demolder around the time of her grandmother\u2019s death from cancer.<\/p>\n

Oathbreaker “10:56” \/ “Second Son of R.” (Official Video) – YouTube
\n\"Oathbreaker<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a really low point in life,\u201d she says. \u201cI felt really depressed; I didn\u2019t know I was depressed, but I was tired and felt disconnected from working. But I didn\u2019t want to give up; I was fighting myself, basically. My past relationships were all bullshit and I didn\u2019t have contact with my parents anymore. It was a really unstable time for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gilles, her bandmate and friend of more than 15 years, encouraged Caro to write down her feelings as he composed music on his acoustic guitar. \u201cI wrote all of the lyrics from childhood memories,\u201d she continues. \u201cThere are really emotional songs about past relationships, but most of it came from a very self-reflective place. I wanted to write about what I know about myself, but also what people don\u2019t know about me and what I didn\u2019t realise about myself. I tried to dig really deep.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was in a really low point in life<\/p>\n

Caro Tanghe<\/p>\n

It\u2019s from this seed that Rheia grew, and, with the critical and commercial success that Oathbreaker are currently enjoying, it would be easy to end the story there \u2013 to paint the picture of a band and a woman who have succeeded despite adversity and are now enjoying the fruits of their labour.<\/p>\n

But this is no fairytale. Soon Oathbreaker were to tour this most personal of records, and the demons on Rheia had to be relived every night. \u201cWe\u2019re very lucky to have been able to do this,\u201d Caro says, \u201cbut there are some nights where I literally have to scrape myself up off of the floor and do what I have to do. Because the emotional content of this record is so real to me. Most of the time it\u2019s very exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exhausting to the point where Caro is honest enough to tell us that there are times, to her obvious shame, when she has tried to switch off from engaging with the music she is playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some nights where I can feel everything,\u201d she says, her voice cracking. \u201cYou feel every word you are saying, but there are days where routine takes over\u2026 it becomes so unimportant because you do it every day. Just a different crowd in a different city. Those nights I feel terrible; it makes it feel like those things I wrote about aren\u2019t real. I feel like a robot and I can\u2019t even believe a crowd can care about what we\u2019re doing. <\/p>\n

“But those other days when I do feel those things, it hurts so bad, but you actually feel like you\u2019re alive. So, I have to seek that out, or there is no point us being up there. I want it to feel real, not superficial.<\/p>\n

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\"Oathbreaker\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Derek Bremner)<\/p>\n

After a year of struggling with this dynamic, it\u2019s no wonder that touring life has taken its toll on Oathbreaker. The band recently posted on their Facebook page that, after an upcoming run of UK dates, they will be taking 2018 off, with no definite promise of a return.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s something that we needed to do,\u201d sighs Caro. \u201cIt\u2019s been very intense. On a personal level we\u2019ve all known each other for so long, but no one can prepare you for being in such a small space together for so long. For example, me and Gilles were together and we broke up, and it\u2019s been really tough dealing with that. We still have to be in a van together.<\/p>\n

“The vibe in the band has to be good. We need to go away and have that space and then maybe come back\u2026 I don\u2019t know, I can\u2019t say at the moment. I\u2019m really happy we can do those UK shows in December, and we might try writing a new record, but I can\u2019t say for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one can prepare you for being in such a small space together for so long<\/p>\n

Caro Tanghe<\/p>\n

Caro is quick to point out that the individuals in Oathbreaker will still be active. With members of Amenra in their ranks, the musicians that created the sonic canvas for Rheia will still be bringing new music to the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have other bands and side-projects to keep us going,\u201d she says, before hesitantly adding, \u201cWell, except me\u2026 I may have a new project, but it\u2019s still so early that it really isn\u2019t worth me talking about it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Caro will spend the next couple of months in the United States, enjoying life. This afternoon she walked her boyfriend\u2019s dog and acquired last-minute NASCAR tickets, and tells us she looks forward to having time where she\u2019s \u201cjust being normal\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the spectre of Rheia still looms large over her life, prompting us to revisit the question we began with: is it just too daunting to consider making a successor to their current album?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many other amazing things I believe we could achieve,\u201d she says. \u201cMaybe by using electronic music or being really quiet and melodic\u2026 but it\u2019s too early to say right now. We might not ever even try\u2026 and that\u2019s fine.\u201d Those UK shows may be just another chapter in the Oathbreaker story, or they may well be the full stop. Either way, you owe it to yourself to experience them.<\/p>\n

Originally published in Metal Hammer #303. Oathbreaker will release a new version of Rhea titled Rheia (Redux) on May 29. They play Toronto’s Prepare The Ground festival in May and the UK’s Arctangent festival in August<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this month, genre-splicing Belgian metallers Oathbreaker returned to the stage after almost a decade away, finally putting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-544351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}