Last weekend I got the chance to see Thanatic Eyes live and was fairly impressed in their performance. I also managed to snag a copy of their four song demo. Though there are some issues with the production, this demo is thoroughly enjoyable, filled with tracks that are sure to become classics and that show the incredible might of one of the French underground finest bands. Brutal and unforgiving, this is heavy metal madness at its finest.
Clocking in at just over twenty minutes there are some surprising highlights on this record. While the mid tempo riffs pad out the sound, I especially dig the more melodic moments, like the bridge on the track The Edge of Life. These high powered guitar parts add a lot of flavor to the songs. Meanwhile, the growls are excellent, filled with a tasty rage that helps to keep things nice and brutal. I will say though, the occasional cleans employed don't really feel like they belong on the CD even if they do work in a live context. A final note, the gang vocals on The Tormentor are classic and take the song to a new level, proving the songwriting capability and raw skill of this group.
With this demo, Thanatic Eyes may show some limitations, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to make thorougly enjoyable death metal. Sure the production isn't always great and some of the playing could be ameliorated, but Thanatic Eyes show a distinct and profound artistic direction. They have more interesting and unique ideas than almost every other band on the scene. I think with a little more development they could go far. Seeing as they have an album out soon and a huge release party coming up at Divan du Monde I think Thanatic Eyes could really drive things to a new level of death metal mastery!
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https://www.facebook.com/ThanaticEyes?fref=ts
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