Our Gangs Dark Oath
2004 studio album by Aiden
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Our Gangs Dark Oath is the debut studio album by post-hardcore band Aiden. The album was released on June 1, 2004. Originally, the album was only available in North America, but it was recently re-released in Europe and again by Victory Records.
| Our Gangs Dark Oath | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 1, 2004 | |||
| Recorded | January 2004 | |||
| Genre | Post-hardcore | |||
| Length | 44:56 | |||
| Label | Dead Teenager | |||
| Producer | Steve Carter | |||
| Aiden chronology | ||||
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"Our Gang's Dark Oath" is also the name of the second chapter of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.[1]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Our Gang's Dark Oath" | 1:04 |
| 2. | "The Dawn Breaking Tide" | 2:30 |
| 3. | "I Set My Friends on Fire" (A quotation from the movie The Ring is featured in this song) | 3:06 |
| 4. | "Pledge Resistance" | 2:51 |
| 5. | "Bridge of Reason, Shore of Faith" (A part of the movie Stand by Me can be heard at the beginning of this track) | 3:06 |
| 6. | "Life I Left Behind" | 3:03 |
| 7. | "Looking Glass Eyes" | 2:45 |
| 8. | "Fifteen" | 2:37 |
| 9. | "Kid Becomes the Dream" | 2:24 |
| 10. | "Cold December" | 3:30 |
| 11. | "World by Storm (A part of the movie The Boondock Saints can be heard at the beginning of this track)" | 18:00 |
| Total length: | 44:56 | |
Background, music and lyrics
Our Gangs Dark Oath is a post-hardcore album with elements of punk rock and sometimes screamo.[2] The album's style is similar to the band AFI, with lyrics being about singer Wil Francis' history of drug abuse and struggles from being on his own by his mid-teen years and leaving jail (Francis was in his early 20s when Our Gangs Dark Oath was recorded).[2] Francis got kicked out of school in 8th grade and never went to high school.[3] Francis said during Aiden's early years, he was angry at the world but later stopped caring about it.[4]
World by Storm
The beginning of "World by Storm" contains a sound clip from the courtroom scene of Boondock Saints.
Also, this song contains two segments of silence along with two hidden tracks. "World by Storm" ends at 3:50 followed by silence until 8:00. Then an untitled hidden track begins, a track which contains nothing but a piano. The "Piano Track" plays in regular time until 10:30, at which point the song fades out for just a second and exactly the same song begins playing in reverse. This plays until 13:00.
At this point, the song ends and another segment of silence begins. This silence ends at 15:10 and another untitled hidden track begins: this one containing acoustic guitar and the lead singer's voice. This track leads to the end of the song and album. The breakdown of "World by Storm" is as follows:
- Boondock Saints – 0:00 – 0:10
- World by Storm – 0:10 – 3:50
- silence – 3:50 – 8:00
- Piano track (hidden track, forward) – 8:00 – 10:30
- Piano track (hidden track, reversed) – 10:30 – 13:00
- silence – 13:00 – 15:10
- Silent, Perfect, Deadly (hidden track) – 15:10 – 18:00
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Kerrang! | [citation needed] |
| Rock Sound | [citation needed] |
AllMusic gave the album a neutral review, writing, "Aiden offer up a competent, if not slightly generic, dose of post-hardcore with a dark punk edge" and noting that "the group sounds more like the younger cousins of My Chemical Romance or AFI who just happened to be weaned in a screamo scene."[2]
Chart positions
| Chart | Position |
|---|---|
| Top Independent Albums | 32 |
| Top Heatseekers Albums | 30 |
Personnel
- Aiden
- William Francis – lead vocals, piano, programming, keyboard
- Angel Ibarra – lead guitar
- Jake Wambold – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Nick Wiggins – bass, backing vocals
- Jake Davison – drums, percussion
- Production
- Steve Carter – producer, engineer, mastering, mixing
- Aaron Edge – artwork, construction
- Jeff Hayes – cover photo
