Through the Eyes of the Dead / The Knife Trade
The Annihilation of Expectation (Split CD)
7.4
First off, I want to stab Through the Eyes of the Dead and Lovelost Records right in the ballsac for giving only another mere handful of songs, instead of a full length album. Right in the sac fellas. Take and like it. Second, and on a less objective childlike note, here is Through the Eyes of the Dead’s said split with The Knife Trade, who like a pilot fish riding the Great White Shark, tag along with TtEofD hoping to feast on their leftover scraps. Pretty good idea actually.
The Knife Trade actually starts fairly impressively with an epic instrumental intro hinting at something special. They then follow it up with four standard tracks of melodic/ death/ thrash core, the kind of high energy, low originality middle tier stuff along the lines of Neaera, Camilla Rhodes, The Red Death, Winter Solstice, etc. Not too bad, but nothing special either; Lots of arpeggio solos, galloping riffs and a mix of scowled/growled vocals that are almost ruined by needless clean and gang chanted tangents. The Knife Trade is like some vast vacuous metalcore sponge sucking in every influence and band you’ve ever heard and added some delicate synths. Admittedly, “Off With Their Heads” leaves a good (and maybe only positive) exiting impression (except for the clean vocals), with rather boisterous thrashy pacing and a plethora of finger noodling solos, and evocative synths; it all sort of comes together finally in one pretty rousing little number that did have me tuck the band’s name away in my vast metalcore databank for future releases. They could use a better production to give their sound amore urgent vigor and avoid the clean vocals, but I expect a much improved release down the road.
It would hard for Through the Eyes of the Dead to improve on their massive Scars of Ages EP, and honestly they don’t, but they do show that they are arguably the heaviest and most purely death metal inspired of the vast army of ‘core based bands out there (Embrace the End, The Taste of Blood, The Red Chord, etc). Not chaotic or grind based as many of their peers, but a steady, rumbling direct heaviness that throbs and pulses with classic death metal influence instead of shallow frenetics and an overly forced death metal gloss. Still focused on gargantuan rumbling throes of death metal based fervor scattered amid admittedly standard cantering melodeath/metalcore structures, TtEotD, do still imbue spine wilting moments of heaviness. The start of and mid section of “Abyssal Creation” could be Bolt Thrower, while the short “Reconstruction of the Female Anatomy” with its From Hell intro cascades with initial yet concise dissonance before unloading a huge wad of predictable but welcome breakdown goodness. Patrick Bateman introduces “Erratic Perception” that begins like a classic Floridian death metal album and soon gives us the split’s shortened but most devastating breakdown. “The Truest Shade of Crimson” wraps up the split with EP's most complete track, hinting at how damn good TtEotD can be when they fire on all cylinders, with solos, textured harmonies and stout grooves abound, it hints at a killer full length. The production for the material on this split isn’t as permeating as Scars of Ages, with the drums sounding too distant, but it’s still oppressive at times. Still, TtEotD show they are adark horse in a saturated genre.
A decent little split and worth it for the TtEofD material alone, but you get a piggy backed little bonus with The Knife Trade’s solid effort.
Now. When’s that full length gonna drop or it sac stabbing time.
