Through the Eyes of the Dead - Malice (Prosthetic)
Just before entering Mana Studios in Tampa, FL to record Malice, South
Carolina’s Through the Eyes of the Dead parted ways with vocalist Anthony
Gunnels. They found his replacement with Nate Johnson (Premonitions of War,
Deadwater Drowning). The vocal approach on Malice is far more than I could
have ever expected out of Gunnels, who I feel was a weak vocalist that
relied too much on effects. Johnson steps it up and completely kills it. His
growls are aggressive and stand out a lot to me on the track Welcome to the
Wasteland. Josh Kulick quite possibly has the fastest feet in metal. His
drumming is phenomenal. Justin Longshore and Chris Anderson’s guitar work on
Malice is miles ahead of Bloodlust. Malice is a much tighter effort than
previous releases. Right off the start the album starts destroying with the
track Failure in the Flesh. From there it is an assault until the final
track in which they cover Dominate by Morbid Angel. The cover is absolutely
flawless. Their sound isn’t so much death core as it is now just brutal
death metal with this release. For me, the band losing Anthony Gunnels was a
positive move. The band has improved greatly since the release of Bloodlust,
but that is no surprise when you work with Erik Rutan (Morbid Angel, Hate
Eternal).
Nick Zimmer
