Dååth are back after a 13-year break and will release a new album, The Deceivers, on 3 May 2024 via Metal Blade Records. The album is set to be a devastating reminder of the past, but enhancing their technical wizardry and brutal intensity.
There are some changes to the lineup of the Atlanta, Georgia-bred band, though guitarist and band founder Eyal Levi is happy that Dååth still features force-of-nature vocalist Sean Zatorsky, who has fronted the band since 2007.
Dååth – The Deceivers – Set to be a devastating reminder of the past, but enhancing their technical wizardry and brutal intensity.
Levi says he is determined that Dååth circa 2024 will expand on the aural and lyrical journey he set out on when the band first formed in 1999.
“Now Dååth is more orchestrated, more over the top,” Levi says. “We have more melodies, and they’re beautiful. That’s what The Deceivers is: Monstrously heavy but beautifully orchestrated, blessed with melodies that will haunt anybody fortunate enough to hear it.”
The nine tracks were produced by Levi, with Andrew Wade doing vocal production, John Douglass engineering, Jens Bogren mixing, and Tony Lindgren mastering.
“We’re doing all those things that I felt were missing in the past,” Levi told us. “Knowing that vision upfront, it made it very easy to choose new band members who were already doing that sort of thing.”
Levi and Zatorsky vowed not to settle in any way, shape, or form When putting the new lineup together. Either the band members would be a perfect fit, or they would have to keep looking.
Levi and Sean Z are pleased to be joined by Kerim’ Krimh’ Lechner on drums, Jesse Zuretti on orchestration and guitar, lead guitarist Rafael Trujillo and bassist David Marvuglio.
Levi says that it was important to find musicians who were as good at writing as they were at playing. “Help us come up with the songs,” Levi says he told prospective members. “Bring that to the table. We want to write the songs with you. Be a part of the process.”
Levi is full of praise for Austrian Krimh, from Septicflesh and ex-Decapitated. “My favourite drummer in Metal,” He says. “He’s the right combination of taste, brutality, speed, power, and musicality. And he’s really fun to watch playing.”
Krimh had an impact on songwriting. “I would get to a part of a song where I didn’t know where to go next,” Levi says, “and he would always have some insight. He’s a phenomenal songwriter and collaborator, and he’s super creative. I’ve never had someone critique my riffs as well as he did in a way that then helped me get to the next place. At that point, I was like, damn, we need this motherfucker in the band.”
Jesse Zuretti, orchestration and guitar, has been a friend of Levi for over a decade. “We’ve worked together before,” Levi says, “but I’ve also watched him build his career as a composer [formerly with Marvel and now working on a soundtrack for Riot Games].
“With Rafael, our classical backgrounds helped us connect musically, and it was so collaborative, which is so meaningful, not to mention the fact that he is an ungodly guitarist. Truly one of the greatest living guitarists.
“David is just a monster on bass. It was one of those things where I hired him to play a session on the first three songs, and he just murdered it.”
The album title The Deceivers is the continuation of a theme that began with 2007’s The Hinderers and continued with 2009’s The Concealers.
“Those titles are about the outside world,” Levi says. “They’re not about us. While they touch on the self-destruction and self-deception we all occasionally fall victim to, this album is a scathing critique and exploration of certain societal elements. The Deceivers and obstructers in life. Those who impede your progress through subterfuge and manipulation.”
That critique of the modern world is on full display in the single and video
Hex Unending, which features the lyrics: “Cleanse me, Rid the malignancy, Commence deliverance, Severance, From this wretched hex unending.”
“It’s about shedding skin,” Sean Z says, “and cleansing the old me; reinventing, and carving a new path vocally, physically, and mentally. This song needed to be front and centre on the record.”
Dååth have found their ideal new home at Metal Blade, signing to the label and wasting no time creating new music. The first new song from the revitalized Dååth, No Rest No End, was released in February 2023 and features guest solos by Spiro Dussias and now-Dååth member Trujillo.
Trujillo impressed Levi so much while guesting on the track that he was invited to join the band. “The first time I heard No Rest No End in demo form,” Sean Z says, “I was blown away.
“I immediately knew exactly what I wanted to do vocally. The words practically flew off the page. During every step of the creation process, the song was an obvious masterpiece.”
Levi says that the band’s hiatus was not by choice. He experienced a sense of loss during the unexpectedly long break. “I kept wanting to get back together,” he says. “It was tough psychologically.”
“I would get DMs all the time,” he says. “Whenever I’d do Q&As, at least one person would always ask about Dååth, and the same thing would happen to the other guys from the old lineup. Then, I noticed that our streaming numbers were gradually building without us doing anything. I thought it was curious, but at that point, I had zero interest in ever playing guitar again.”
Pandemic lockdowns and an injury stunted Levi’s ability to work out. He needed an outlet for his energy, so he picked up his guitar again. After shaking off years of rust, his love for his instrument was reawakened.
“Once my playing was starting to sound like me,” Levi says, “I started writing, and the riffs started to sound like Dååth. At that point, I spoke to Sean, and he told me that he had been waiting for this phone call for 11 years.”
Levi believes this is the most focused and deadly version of Dååth to date and is excited about what is in store. “The chemistry is great,” he says, “because we can talk about stuff that would normally be uncomfortable for a lot of musicians to do without causing problems.
“We’re taking this to its full potential, letting nothing and nobody stand in our way.
“If you’re not going all out, what’s the point?”
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Dååth Ends 13-Year Hiatus With Monumental Return In The Deceivers first appeared on
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