South Carolina's extreme machine Through the Eyes of the Dead are back with their latest platter of brutality called Malice. This time around, they've enlisted the help of producer Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal, ex-Morbid Angel) in hopes that he can take their sound to the next level. While the band still shows some of their hardcore roots, they are increasingly diving head first into brutal death metal these days, led by new vocalist Nate Johnson (ex-Premonitions of War), whose varied vocal attack hits upon all manner of growls, grunts, and screams. As always, drummer Josh Kulick puts in a sick performance behind his kit-there's some insane double bass and blast beat work here, which fits in well with the churning, intricate riff-o-rama from the guitar team of Chris Anderson and Justin Longshore. Most of the tunes fall in the 3-4 minute range, as the band chooses to pummel you for a short period of time then move onto the next track. Highlights are the dueling harmony guitars and rampaging blasts of "A Catastrophe of Epic Proportions", the melodic yet brutal "As Good As Dead", the crushing riffs of "Welcome to the Wasteland" (complete with some savage death barks from Johnson), and the epic death metal sounds of "Pull the Trigger". The latter piece contains some really tasty guitar work, and the rumbling bass of Jake Ososkie seems to drive Kulick to even greater heights of blast mania.
End result is a maliciously brutal affair here on Malice, a record that is sure to continue to propel Through the Eyes of the Dead up the ranks of the extreme metal bandwagon. Rutan's production is spot on here, highlighting what this band does best, which is deliver precise, brutal, and intricate death metal. Check it out.
Track Listing
1. Failure in the Flesh
2. Undead Parade
3. To Wage a War
4. A Catastrophe of Epic Proportions
5. As Good as Dead
6. Welcome to the Wasteland
7. Malice
8. To the Ruins
9. Dead End Roads
10. Interlude
11. Pull the Trigger
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