A lot of the time when I see "true metal" kids referring to metalcore they put quotes around the metal because it's not true enough for them. After millions of hours of research upon the topic I came upon a few realizations on the subject of the difference between metal and metalcore. For the most part what it comes down to is metalcore members have short hair and are just as influenced as bands like Cave In or Converge as bands like Dying Fetus or At The Gates. The music itself will have breakdowns (slower heavier dancy parts) and lyrics consisting of sunsets, shadows, and fallen skies. I'm sure there's a lot more to it but when you use generalizations life is more fun.
Through The Eyes Of The Dead exemplify this metalcore sound/look perfectly. Upon the viewing of their website there are no long hairs, just short haired super dudes, minus the drummer who gets a m/ from me. What begins separating this band from other metalcore bands is in their sound having a true metal sound to it, not just watered down metal with breakdowns. Although upon a quick listen one might throw this off as the next Dead To Fall, what lurks beneath a quick peek is something a lot better. As a trademark metal sound, the double bass drums are recorded loud and pound your speakers in your face with each kick. While I usually don't like this mechanical triggered sound, the drummer is so good that it would make sense to have it be so loud and clean. He isn't just playing fast to fill in any dead silence; he's playing technically and cumming all over your face.
There is definitely a death metal influence, but more in vein of melodic The Black Dahlia Murder style. The use of samples is awesome, as it gives the listener time to evaluate what just beat in their skull. The samples also appear to have a religious theme in them, every one of them sounds meaningful and not thrown in to have another sample. All the rage these days is in breakdowns and if you happen to be fan of these parts you'll definitely be pleased. While there is nothing innovative in them, they will tear you apart and enable your skeleton to assault all that oppose. These are quickly segued into two-step-galloping guitar waltzes that jump to speed fueled blitzkriegs.
What else would go well with a hyper heavy metal sound than screaming? All that I can think of is pantyhose. In this department, the vocal one that is, Through The Eyes Of The Dead does two types. They are almost like The Red Chord, but not as low. They high and low vocals have a raspyness to them that defies any tastes of clean screaming like A Static Lullaby. The only thing that I'm not 100% down with is the lyrics that are spewed. There is definitely that metalcore cliche in them with lines like "Her tears were cold as winter" and "black roses rain from blood filled skies." Very generic but I'm sure most listeners don't look forward to metal lyrics for social insight. The music isn't going to defy any pre-conceived thoughts you had about this type of sound which in a sense is the only real downfall to this, the lack of something new, but if you like heavy/brutal music with melody, rock this.
I, and anybody else that has listened to this band, will inform you this band will be the next big thing. I'm sure they've gotten offers by Victory and other large labels that dabble in metal and if not, people is ignorant. In a recent interview they said they were going to run more in the direction of "extreme death metal" and away from the "whole core genre". I don't know what this exactly means until I hear it, but I can't wait. How does something this good come from South Carolina? This is definitely something metalcore and metal fans will be able to devour as it is the best band in metalcore right now.
