Through the butchering of innocent souls, the malevolent ones flourish. Through the fortitude of audacity, decorum shall triumph. Through the eyes of the dead, a bloodlust will spawn.
Imagery often plays a key role in the affect that music can have on a listener. A theme or illustration can take a sound recording and transform it into something so much more. In the case of
Bloodlust, a sordid compilation laced with warlike violence and merciless musical slaying, the imagery is as rich as the blood flowing through our veins. As flashes of damaged lives soar crying across the mind’s eye, one can never forget the profound impact that Through the Eyes of the Dead's debut depicts.
I have never been particularly warmhearted towards the metalcore. The mere mention of the name sends chilling images of repetitive breakdowns, recycled riffs, and horribly yelled vocals through my head. However, the mere mention of this band being associated with Arsis (through ex-guitarist Jake Ososkie) sent me running to the nearest music store. And while Ososkie was not personally affiliated with the writing process, this band is the first of the genre worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as the almighty Arsis. Through technical prowess, brutality, melody, tortured vocal performances, and a machinegun like assault, Through the Eyes of the Dead blow away every metalcore band in existence in every way possible.
From the flow of the
Intro into
Two Inches From a Main Artery, it’s painfully obvious that this band favors the gore of traditional death metal over the negative traits that the metal world commonly ignores core-related genres for. The drums cut through like bullets while the guitars pummel into submission. The vocals, while featuring some expected shouting, feature piercing shrieks and inhuman growls. This is not just another metalcore band. Through the Eyes of the Dead is a terrifying fusion of death metal with everything that metalcore should be.
The extreme brutality was the deciding factor for the album. The music displays how aptly the release was titled through the crushing displays of
Two Inches From a Main Artery and
With Eyes Ever Turned Inward. As stated, every musician plays a part in this sound, which presents like a complete war zone. The rhythm section is total chaos with its pounding pulses and flowing rhythms. The instrumental
The Black Death and Its Aftermath sets the darkest of tones as the deepest shades of blood red coat the intensity of said massacre. There is no turning back once track one begins. All you can do is grab a security blanket and hope that 38 minutes is enough time to repent your sins.
Dark tendencies of viciousness and frenzied playing are offset by unforgettable melodies that add emotion to a bleak setting of death. Through
When Everything Becomes Nothing and
Truest Shade of Crimson, life becomes stable as the end looms near. Though the horrifically perfect vocals, crying through the bloodshed and barking to defend, the music becomes beautiful and the texture once again rich with imagery - this time imagery of everything good. Nothing is certain during
Bloodlust.
Through a spectrum of emotions and a fury of instrumental madness, the bar of the metalcore genre has been raised to a significant new high. Shifting from mesmerizing splendor to pure black desolation in a
Decaying Process, strikingly serene to overwhelmingly complex - this is truly a
Bloodlust capable of catching all extreme music fans. Nothing has been achieved similar to this. All that can be expected is for vision to see light once again as the slaughter fades away in the distance and music fans worldwide to embrace the new awakening and witness the advent of
Bloodlust Through the Eyes of the Dead.
