Through the Eyes of the Dead

Revered as one of the groups that pioneered the aggressive and abrasive mixture of death metal and hardcore that permeates the modern heavy music landscape, the East Coast-based THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD triumphantly return with Disomus. Disomus is the long anticipated follow up to their last LP, Skepsis, released in 2010. Disomus marks the second consecutive album with vocalist Danny Rodriguez and drummer Michael Ranne (a first in the group's impressive history) together with longtime bassist Jake Ososkie and founding guitarist and songwriting engine Justin Longshore. Disomus doubles as the studio introduction of new guitarist Steven Funderburk (also of Wretched) and the return of original vocalist Anthony Gunnells and his successor, Nate Johnson, via strong guest appearances, bringing Through The Eyes Of The Dead full circle.

"Disomus" is the medical term describing an abnormal fetus with two bodies but one head. The album's subject matter includes the tale of a man buried alive by a cult ("Obitual"), a dark magician's creation of a malignant entity via sacrificial killing ("Haruspex"), underworld spirits doomed to roam the earth ("Dismal"), the Styx River of Greek myth ("Vortices in the Stygian Maelstrom"), the themes of the Alien/Prometheus film franchise ("Teras," alternately named for an abnormal fetus with two heads and one body), and the real life tragedy and horror discovered by Rodriguez, a Chicago police officer, when called upon to check on the well being of an elderly person who lived alone ("Till Solace, She'll Haunt").

"Hate the Living" is not only the name of the first track on Through The Eyes Of The Dead's first album in seven years, but part of a battle cry of sorts that has adorned the band's t-shirts for years. The second half of the phrase is "Love the Dead." Like the best of death metal's past, present, and future, Through The Eyes Of The Dead is the kind of band that makes living with death worth loving.