Through the Eyes of the Dead is an American death metal/deathcore act. One of the figureheads of the MySpace deathcore era, they were a huge name in the 2000s, and while their reduction to Part-Time Hero status in the 2010s has limited their modern influence, they are still a beloved act with a loyal fanbase.
Formed in Florence, South Carolina in 2003 by Anthony Gunnells (vocals), Richard Turbeville and Justin Longshore (guitars), Jeff Springs (bass), and Dayton Cantley (drums), the band wasted no time in becoming a local sensation and quickly released The Scars of Ages, their debut EP, in very early 2004. Turbeville left not long after and was replaced by Chris Anderson; the band would go on to record their half of The Annihilation of Expectation, a split with The Knife Trade, in early 2005, followed by Bloodlust, their full-length debut with Prosthetic Records. Almost immediately after, the band lost 2/5s of their lineup, as Springs and Cantley left to form From Graves of Valor with Richard Turbeville. Jake Ososkie and Josh Kulick quickly jumped in to fill the void, and the band began touring the VFW/Elks Lodge circuit around that time. 2006 would mark the real beginning of the relentless touring that marked the later portion of the 2000s, and most of the year was spent on the road. At some point between 2006 and 2007, Gunnells managed to get himself into some legal trouble, and the band was forced to kick him out, while Anderson himself left right before they went into the studio.
The band welcomed in Nate Johnson as their new vocalist right before they went into the studio, and by the end of the summer of 2007, Malice, their sophomore full-length, was out. Johnson and Kulick left right around the end of the year, however, and with 3/5s of the lineup gone, the band opted to use fill-ins until they could find new full-timers. At some point in 2008, the new lineup solidified: Danny Rodriguez (Roman Ring) was the new vocalist, while Chris Henckle and Mike Ranne (both in My Bitter End) took the lead guitar and drum slots. The band continued touring, and in the summer of 2009, they returned to the studio yet again. Skepsis, their third full-length, was released in early 2010, and the band toured throughout 2010. Things dried up in 2011, however, and for the next few years, the band was effectively silent aside from a few scattered shows, aside from some talk of a new album in 2012 that failed to materialize for a while. In early 2017, the silence was effectively broken, as they announced that a new album would be released later that year and posted a pre-production track, along with the announcement that Steven Funderburk (Wretched) had taken the lead guitar spot. Disomus, their long-awaited fourth album, was released that October, and while the shows in support of it were limited to fests, one-offs, and extremely short runs, their fanbase has unwaveringly maintained their support.
Discography:
- The Scars of Ages (2004) (EP)
- The Annihilation of Expectation (2005) (split with The Knife Trade)
- Bloodlust (2005)
- Malice (2007)
- Skepsis (2010)
- Disomus (2017)
The band contains examples of the following tropes:
- Ascended Extra: Steven Funderburk was a live-fill in before he eventually joined due to Wretched's own inactivity.
- Buried Alive: "Obitual".
- Cover Version: They covered "Dominate" on Malice.
- Darker and Edgier: Skepsis, which reduced the melodic death metal elements that were present on Malice even further.
- Deathcore: Along with All Shall Perish, Job for a Cowboy, As Blood Runs Black, and Suffokate, they were the Trope Codifiers and general figureheads of the MySpace deathcore style, which was best displayed on Bloodlust. While Malice and subsequent releases took a more death metal-oriented turn, they have always maintained a strong deathcore undercurrent.
- Eldritch Abomination: The protagonist of "The Binding Nightmare" contacts these during an astral projection session gone wrong.
- Epic Rocking: "Truest Shade of Crimson" (6:17 on Bloodlust, while its original recorded version was 6:02).
- Metal Scream: Anthony Gunnells was mostly a Type 3, while Nate Johnson was a Type 2, as is Danny Rodriguez.
- New Sound Album: Malice dropped most of the deathcore elements from Bloodlust by massively reducing the amount of breakdowns and going for a heavier, less Gothenburg-influenced riffing approach, creating the style that they would carry with them from that point forward.
- Part-Time Hero: Their status as of the 2010s; most members have families and jobs that are not particularly flexible with time-off requests, and given how their almost-constant touring led to the heavy turnover that almost broke the band up and burnt everyone out, they have little interest in pounding the pavement again to begin with.
- Revolving Door Band: A major issue for most of their career to the point where Justin Longshore is the only remaining founder, and it likely was a major factor in the burnout that led to their lengthy hiatus.
- Special Guest: Ryan Knight contributed a guest lead to "As Good as Dead" off of Malice, while Gunnells and Johnson returned to do guest vocals on several tracks on Disomus; additionally, John Robert C. and Dan Sugarman also had guest spots on that album. On the live front, Jerry Stovall was a brief fill-in after Cantley's departure, while Lou Tanuis and Hector "Leche" de Santiago (As Blood Runs Black) were onetime touring members after Johnson and Kulick's departures, and Turbeville briefly came back as a fill-in in 2007.
- Start My Own: Turbeville, Springs, and Cantley started Graves of Valor (originally From Graves of Valor) in 2005 along with Damon Welch and David Hasselbring, and they mostly sounded like a heavier, less core-leaning version of their parent band. They would later break up in 2011. Subverted by Heathen Bastard, as Anthony Gunnells joined shortly after they had properly formed, while Dayton Cantley and Damon Welch joined years after they had started.
- Trope Codifier: Bloodlust, along with The Price of Existence, Doom, As Blood Runs Black's Allegiance, and Suffokate's Oakland, helped codify the MySpace deathcore sound that was the most popular style up until around 2012 or 2013.
