Review Summary: Yay for deathcore?
Through the Eyes of the Dead – The Scars of Ages EP
Through the Eyes of the Dead were:
Anthony Gunnells – Vocals
Justin Longshore – Guitar
Richard Turbeville – Guitar
Jeff Springs – Bass
Dayton Cantley – Drums
Taking their name from a song by one of their largest influences, the infamous
Cannibal Corpse,
Through the Eyes of the Dead (
TTEOTD) are possibly the heaviest group out of Flo-Town (Florence), South Carolina. They began a roller coaster of a career with the 18-minute EP,
The Scars of Ages. At the time they were signed to the little known record label,
Lovelost, which a mere two years before was home to the now well-known
The Black Dahlia Murder (
TBDM).
TBDM have been consistently above average, have released three solid full-length albums, and have gathered a large fan base around the world.
TTEOTD, on the other hand, have not been so fortunate. Having to deal with frequent lineup changes due to lazy members, alcoholic members, and just plain old angry members, one really doesn’t know what to expect with every new album from the band. Fortunately, this isn’t a review of any of their newer works, and
The Scars of Ages is a fantastic start by any standards.
TTEOTD sadly falls under the dreaded deathcore genre; a blend of death metal and metalcore. They happen to be one of the first bands to do the genre justice, and possibly even the last. They have the ability to attract fans of many different genres because of this well-done mixture; I happened to be into plain old dull metalcore when I first heard these guys, and they introduced me to death metal and I fell in love with almost every aspect of the genre. Taking the brutal double bass and blast beats of death metal drumming, as well as its unintelligible high-pitched screams and guttural growls, and blending it with metalcore styled guitar riffs, this album is concentrated intensity at its very best. Due to the guitars, the tracks are able to stay melodic throughout, so one’s head can stay relaxed during the course of these five songs. Breakdowns will be present here, but don’t fret; they are used sparingly and will abruptly alternate patterns, managing to keep the listener content. The greatest facet of the breakdowns in this music is that the songs are not based around them, like in mediocre metalcore, but instead they are inserted in between melodic sections and function like build –ups. The one little fault in the music here is the bass taking a backseat to the guitars, also common in metalcore. This is fixed in
Bloodlust, but is apparent here.
What truly impressed me with this album was the lyrical portion. While one isn’t going to be able to understand the vocals when listening without the lyrics, they are very well written (for the genre) and most of the time well thought out. More death metal influence is apparent here, with tracks associated with death, hell, etc.
Autumn Tint of Gold begins with a quote from the movie
The Prophecy, with Christopher Walken (three of the five tracks here begin with movie quotes, and while I’m not a fan of this, it isn’t detrimental to the music at all). The song, similar to the movie, compares angels and heaven with hell and the devil, and in a way says they are on the same team, keeping the earth balanced and at peace. I guess one can’t really call the ideas here creative, when they are based on ideas taken straight from the big screen.
To Take Comfort is a particularly horrid little poem about taking comfort in (physically) hurting someone. Badly. I don’t think these guys want to be mentioned along side bands like
Atreyu.
One could rant on for a long time about this petite EP, as it is fundamentally sound and one of the least repetitive “core” albums out there. From the bone-shattering drums and melodious guitar lines, to the ear-piercing (in a good way) vocals, this is a must have for any fan of any sort of metal. I strongly suggest you pick this up if you enjoyed their later release
Bloodlust; it lacks the filler and the recycled drumming of that album, but has all its other enjoyable traits. Call it melo-death, death metal, metalcore, or deathcore, this is a superb release.
Pros:
Instrumentally sound
Killer vocals
Does deathcore the right way
Nothing unnecessary or excessive
Cons:
Short
Guitars over Bass
All five tracks are solid, but if I had to recommend some:
Between the Gardens that Bathe in Blood
Beneath Dying Skies
To Take Comfort
Score: 4/5
