For starters, they decided that their fourth album will be a self-titled effort. _Daath_ entails melodies, served up with some stark vocals and a triumphant drumming performance from Mr. Kevin Talley. Album starter "Genocidal Maniac", for example, commences proceedings with a build-up and some creative chops from Kevin Talley before erupting with full force. And while his decision to blast-off with the keyboards and the chugging riff on "N.A.T.G.O.D" was particularly clever, Talley's doubling of the measure with the solo of "Double Tap Suicide" to give the impression of increasing the tempo is, for me, his best segment on _Daath_.

Of course the drummer is not the only member pushing his boundaries on this album. Guitarists Eyal Levi and Emil Wrestler have more than a few tricks to dispatch from their stringed riffing machines. Tracks like "Oxygen Burn" and "Arch {Enemy} Misanthrope", to name a couple of examples, boast a bunch of riffs that could dissolve the inhibitions of the snobbiest concert attendees and send them right into the moshpit. The vocals also have their moments; the shouting chorus of "Oxygen Burn" and the up-tempo of "Destruction / Restoration" come quickly to mind. The bass guitar, however, sounds a little too low in the mix, but that's not much of a surprise when one considers last year's album _The Concealers_.

So how does _Daath_ answer my question? It does so by presenting a band that sounds exactly how it wants to sound like. After just a few listens, this self-titled effort indirectly explains the reason for its nomenclature. This album presents Daath's staple sound and the perfect name for the album is the band's own name. The skills of each of the band members are melting into each other rather cohesively, and the end result is highly impressive. Although I wouldn't expect this record to trump hundreds of year end lists, I would seriously recommend it to anyone who is open to death metal and/or pummeling metal drumming.