CoC : Dååth - The Concealers : Review

Dååth - _The Concealers_
(Century Media, 2009)
by: Jackie Smit (6 out of 10)

Once touted by Roadrunner Records as the anointed saviours of death metal, _The Concealers_ finds Dååth stripping away the majority of electronica and industrial elements that seeped generously from the pores of their debut. While admittedly it was precisely these influences that ruffled the feathers of certain critics, without it the Atlanta natives' sophomore effort comes off sounding curiously insipid. With a new vocalist in a shape of Sean Z on deck, the divide between this record and _The Hinderers_ at times becomes so pronounced that you'd be forgiven for mistaking them for a different outfit entirely. To their credit, they undertake a few valiant attempts to save this from being just another bog-standard death metal release. "Day of Endless Light", with its fleet-fingered jazz flourishes, is an explosive reminder of what Dååth are capable of and of the sort of classic they have the potential to deliver in the future. High praise should also be reserved for "...Of Poisoned Sorrows", a song which represents something of a return to the multi-layered approach of their Roadrunner debut. Still, for most fans who have been following death metal for longer than two years, ploughing through _The Concealers_ becomes a redundant exercise far more often than it should.

Contact: http://www.daathmusic.com/

(article published 24/3/2009)