Cold

Today we are talking about the Dutch death metal commando Dauthuz, not to be mixed up with the German black metal act of pretty similar name. These five gentlemen have formed the band in 2015 and have started life with a self-titled EP. In 2017 they have followed up with their first full length named “Destined for Death”. Four years later we have got the successor of this album, simply titled “Cold”. I am not familiar with their older work so I am not able to talk about any kind of progression or improvement. What I can tell you though is that what we have got here is a very polished and energetic piece of classic death metal.

Dauthuz are in no danger to win any kind of innovation prices with their approach. Most of the stuff presented here have been done in similar ways before, but in many ways this is where the album’s true strength lies, not in attempting to reinvent the genre, but in seeking simply to reinvigorate it, to bring the “then” into the “now”, so as to make everything old new again. Throwing some well-known chord progressions at the genre fanatics while keeping things fresh and tight and make good use of modern possibilities might be the best route to go to satisfy older as well as younger fans.

The basic elements that can be found here are taken from the US school as well as from well-known European (mainly Swedish) peers. The pummeling drums are hitting the listener in full-attack mode while the riffing is switching between fast and straight forward parts to slower and stoic sections. There are some moments where the tempo is completely taken out and after a short break the heavy attacks start again. After those breaks the build-up starts slowly before the speed and the intensity are ramped up more and more until the tempo limit is reached again. All in all the songs show a nice mixture of speedier moments, slightly doomy parts and groovy mid-tempo stuff. Those mid-tempo rockers are the pieces I have enjoyed the most (check out “Hellborn” for a good example), but it is the overall variety which makes this album such an enjoyable listen.

The music is dynamic, vibrant, and almost reverent, not forgetting to implement the melodic aspect of death metal as well. It feels like Dauthuz are sticking to the blueprint of old school death metal as we know it, and they play it with such skill that it’s almost irresistible. Each song has addicting main chords that are accompanied by outstanding lead work. The lead guitars are always present, as main driving force or sometimes more subtle in the background, often changing the mood withing one single song with the respective parts creating an uplifting, but sometimes also slightly eerie atmosphere. The rhythm section builds a solid backbone, and the vocals by singer Emiel are fierce and evil and surely on par with most of his more well-known peers.

The songwriting is where Dauthuz really shine and leave a lot of similar bands behind. They combine their straight-forward blasting and the heavy grooves with perfectly planned and executed song structures and some chorus parts that are going to stick with the listener. The flow of the album is really good, and while some of the later songs can come across with slightly repetitive ideas which have already been used before the whole record just flies by. The production is also more or less flawless, very crunchy and clear. The sound is dynamic and while pretty modern not too compressed or synthetic. Overall “Cold” has been a great surprise to my ears and a prove that classic death metal can still bring something exciting to the table when delivered by the right band.