The Haunted - The Dead Eye CD
$5.00
The Haunted - The Dead Eye CD
$5.00
There are some things that I expect when I buy The Haunted. I am going to hear a mix of death and post-thrash with heavy vocals and fast music. I got almost NONE of that on The Dead Eye.
The Dead Eye is full of surprises from a usually consistent The Haunted. This album focuses on the “feel” of the entire album rather than individual songs. There is a definite flow and well thought out feel to where the album is headed. It really tries to tell a full story as the listener progresses from The Premonition to The Guilt Trip. The atmosphere devours the album as the listener dives into this strange world The Haunted have created on The Dead Eye. In fact, The Dead Eye really works way better as a whole album then individual songs. To tell someone to only listen to a few songs is depriving them of the interesting and unique experience that The Dead Eye really encompasses.
Musically, The Dead Eye is full of melodic guitars overlaying erratic drum working and thick bass lines. Not the usual style for post-thrash stalwarts like The Haunted. There is almost a gothic feel for the music. They went into The Dead Eye with some interesting ideas and came out with an even more interesting work of art. There are moments of post-thrash in the album, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not near the style presented on earlier albums. The riffs are not as muddy sounding and most of the intense speed has been replaced with thought out placement of the guitars. The melody is really what caught me off guard. You can have dark atmospheric music without melody and I thought that was what The Haunted would be doing….wrong.
Vocally, Peter Dolving really brings a new layer to The Haunted. We already heard some experimenting on rEVOLVr – but Dolving really brings a new thought to the mix. He may not be the greatest vocalist to begin with (never was) but he does what he can on the album. He has the barking style that The Haunted is used to but he also varies it with some low tone singing and catchy choruses. Lyrically is where Dolving really shines. He presents listeners with dark and usually symbolic lyrics. I was really wrapped up in his interesting wording and placement for lyrics. Probably the neatest part of the album is reading the lyrics in the booklet or online while the music plays.
All in all, I think a lot of people got the wrong impression with The Dead Eye. Of course it’s different, but no one ever recorded a world changing album by playing it safe…well AC/DC could but very few. You aren’t going to hear the usual on The Dead Eye. But its all right. Listen with an open mind and you should be golden. - The Metal Archives
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