The Hinderers

I'll be honest. This review is mostly to correct the drivel I just read in the other review of The Hinderers. Daath deserves way better. Try listening to this album without your head in your ass and you'll hear what I did.

If you heard Daath's previous release, Futility, you'll still hear a few traces of the old electronic driven material, but for the most part this is just some seriously catchy and seriously heavy death metal. Yes, death metal. The riffs are easily the most infectious thing I've listened to in quite a while. Even the vocal lines get stuck in my head and they're nothing but a solid roar with none of the clean singing found on Futility. On top of all that, the leads and solos are amazing courtesy of Eyal Levi and Emil Werstler and guest solos from James Murphy (Who Will Take the Blame?) and James Malone of Arsis (Blessed Through Misery). They manage to be very technical but fit with the songs and be memorable.

From start to finish this is a well written album. Even an entertaining track like "Dead on the Dancefloor" slowly becomes heavier and heavier until you've forgotten that you just heard a dance beat on a death metal album. The keyboards add some depth to the tracks as well but are rarely the focal point. There are parts in nearly every song where a bouncing riff or killer lead comes out of nowhere and forces me to exclaim aloud, "Fuck yes!" and I'm frequently forced to rewind and experience it all over again. Colin Richardson, Andy Sneap and James Murphy all had a hand in parts of the mixing/production/recording so you should know ahead of time that The Hinderers sounds fantastic. In addition, Kevin Talley joined the band after the record was finished so he doesn't get to take credit for the excellent drumming that supports this fantastic music.

Another plus for the album is intelligent lyrics that are the beginning of a 13 album concept highlighting the various aspects of the Tree of Life. There's plenty of information on all that on Daath's official site if you're interested.

Choosing the best tracks is extremely difficult because there isn't a weak track on here. Best of the best would have to be "The Hinderers," "Blessed Through Misery," "Subterfuge," "From the Blind," and of course "Dead on the Dance Floor" for not being afraid to throw in something a little different and still maintaining the feel of the record. Every time I listen I change my mind on which tracks are the best so that should tell you something as well.

Daath have progressed light years from Futility (which I still like) and I'm really not sure how they're going to pull off another 12 albums if they've set the bar this high with the Hinderers.