The official version contains 10 songs in a jewel case. The deluxe edition has 14 songs and is packaged in an elaborate digipack with a 16 page lyric and photo booklet.

All four bonus tracks in the deluxe package are additional brand new songs. Why two editions? "Pricing, really" says Rob Thorne. "Old-school Oathbangers won't have any qualms paying $14 for the deluxe, but newcomers to the band might, and we're working on an exclusive with iTunes to feature the album at a discounted price. You just can't do that with 14 songs."

'Sacred Oath' will be available for mp3 download through all the major online retailers, but the band expects to make an announcement about an iTunes exclusive in the coming weeks. "Much of the recording of this album has just been a whirlwind. The band is in a zone," said Thorne. Sacred Oath's last album '…'Till Death Do Us Part' spent a few weeks on the iTunes homepage as one of eight best live metal albums in 2008.

Recently, the group filmed the first video off of 'Sacred Oath,' for the track "Counting Zeros." "Yeah, it's easy to get into character for a metal video when you're standing outside in a 14 degree wind chill for 13 hours straight," says Thorne about the recent filming of the video. "We all had pretty bitter looks on our faces. "Counting Zeros" is about the current mess we're in, both economically and with the war, so I guess you could say the weather was in our favor. We just had to grin and bear it." He laughs, "This is why bands use drugs!"

When questioned about the band's third album in as many years - this after a 20-year hiatus following the band's debut, 'A Crystal Vision,' in 1987, Thorne responded, "What can I tell you? I can't explain the timing of it all. But it sure is working, and we're having a great f**king time!"

Tracklisting for 'Sacred Oath' Standard version (jewel case)
1. Paradise Lost
2. Blood Storm
3. Voodoo Dolls
4. Counting Zeros
5. High and Mighty
6. Sacred Oath
7. Caught In The Arc
8. Buried Alive
9. What The Dark Will Undo
10. Hunt For The Fallen Angel