Dååth: College Spirit

When Atlanta death metal band Dååth released their second album, The Hinderers, in 2007, guitarists Eyal Levi and Emil Werstler never imagined how much of a hindrance the record would be to their careers. The abundance of symphonic synths and densely layered guitar rhythms left little room for leads, and keyboardist Mike Kameron’s conceptual lyrics about the Kabbalah (a form of Jewish mysticism) took the focus off the music.

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Desperate for salvation, Dååth staged a coup at the end of 2007, ousted Kameron and became far more complex and guitar oriented for their new album, The Concealers. As Levi points out, the record features 18 guitar solos, countless melodic licks and plenty of fast, crushing riffs. Considering the guitarists’ musical backgrounds, it’s only natural that they wanted to up the ante on their playing. Werstler has a music degree from the Atlanta Institute of Music, where he studied jazz guitar, and Levi went to Boston’s esteemed Berklee College of Music, where he honed his chops before dropping out after three years. Levi explains, “It wasn’t right for me.”

Dååth wrote The Concealers in three months in early 2008, then headed to producer Jason Suecof’s Audio Hammer studio in Sanford, Florida, and spent 10 strange but rewarding weeks recording the album. Levi says, “Jason is a species unto himself. Nothing happens on any sort of schedule, but it happens, and somehow you come out with an amazing record and you’re a way better player than you were when you went in. You understand a lot more about music, though I really don’t know how that happens.”