DÅÅTH returns after a smattering of 2023 singles, 14 years after their self-titled album left nary a blip on most folks’ radar with The Deceivers. That the album features one original member must be noted, as well as that the quintet has expanded, now including a third guitarist, as well as longtime vocalist Sean Zatorsky. So let’s see what fruits are born of sonic upheaval…

‘No Rest No End’ began melodically, until suddenly a wash of discombobulating keys broke any sense of fluidity. Thankfully, this was short-lived, a relatively catchy riff pattern devolving into groove metal grunt-fest, and then – oh, here the keyboards are again! Four minutes in and I’m still waiting for the song to start. More of the same with ‘Hex Unending’ for the most part, but we do find the band travelling into almost mid-period BEHEMOTH territory, a slight feeling of hope.

Seriously, now?! This is the third song of three (‘Ascension’), and – aside from the occasional riff that sticks in your head long enough for it to be played, then chucked away, never to be heard from again – all I’m hearing is snippets of ideas; non-cohesive, incoherent and not meant for repeated listens or hanging about in the memory.

‘The Silent Foray’ rages, staccato rhythm and a militant groove joining Zatorsky’s not unformidable vocal attack, the unexpected, beautiful centerpiece of an album that thus far has offered little. The bridge is bathed in melody, the guitar tone not nearly so digitized as it’s seemed before, and I find myself hoping the rest of The Deceivers hits this hard.

Orchestral flourish heralds ‘Unwelcome Return’ and, while not the banger I’d have hoped for, does shift pace and pattern enough to dig a bit of enjoyment out of the rubble up to now. Unfortunately, ‘Deserving Of The Grave’ and finale ‘Into Forgotten Dirt’ may become more prophetic than DÅÅTH hopes.

DÅÅTH has always been this; a band with clearly talented musicians, ever self-condemned to never write an actual song. I don’t feel lied to. I just feel bored, and I find it hard to believe anyone at all was clamoring for The Deceivers.
Review By: Lord Randall

DÅÅTH
The Deceivers
Metal Blade