1. Failure in the Flesh 
2. Undead Parade 
3. To Wage a War 
4. Catastrophe of Epic Proportions 
5. As Good as Dead 
6. Welcome to the Wasteland 
7. Malice 
8. To the Ruins 
9. Dead End Roads 
10. Interlude 
11. Pull the Trigger 

Through The Eyes Of The Dead have returned with 'Malice', their second album under the Prosthetic banner. What's immediately noticeable about this album is that TTEOTD obviously do not want to be a part of any 'trend' within the metal scene, and have thus dropped just about all the 'core' stylings from their sound altogether. Deathcore no longer, 'Malice' is the creation of a straighforward death metal machine.

New vocalist Nate Johnson (ex-Premonitions Of War) definitely brings in his own brand of gutteral vocals and though it fits in with the music fine, it ultimately becomes repetitive and borderline boring, as he has alot less range and ability than his predecessor. And while that may have been exactly what the rest of the band was looking for in their search for a new vocalist, it really doesn't add a new dynamic to the music. If anything, it's a cause for making the music slightly less interesting as a whole, as they now sound more similar to a number of straight ahead death metal bands, whereas they previously were at the top of the heap compared to other less skilled "Deathcore" bands.

Musically, the band manages to throw in some rather stellar grooves that can't exactly be considered 'breakdowns', but are about as close as a death metal band could come to incorporating them into their sound, without actually doing it. The guitar riffing, razor sharp leadwork, and melodies courtesy of Justin Longshore and Chris Anderson are nothing short of amazing. Josh Kulick's precision drumwork is flawless, and Jake Ososkie has no problem maintaining the bottom end of the pummeling rhythm section.

Regardless of the lack of variation in the vocals, Through The Eyes Of The Dead have still managed to surpass their previous outing, based on the quality of the musicianship alone. 'Malice' is a real quality death metal release, and considering half of the garbage out there that sounds like a bunch of muffled instruments and a vocalist incoherently gurgling underwater, the pristine production, courtesy of Erik Rutan, is what puts TTEOTD head and shoulders above the legions of poorly produced, mediocre death metal bands out there.

If nothing else, 'Malice' will allow Through The Eyes Of The Dead to shed the 'Deathcore' tag from themselves, and hopefully will find Death Metal fans that are willing to give a second listen to a band that they'd all but written off previously. The only thing that would benefit the band at this point is to find a more versatile vocalist, as Nate Johnson is lacking in this department. Premonitions of War was never hailed for anything spectacular, and there was a reason for that. And first week record sales don't mean anything where the change in vocalists is concerned. 'Malice' is coming out at a time when extreme metal is reaching a peak in popluarity amongst the metal community, and that alone has everything to do with the stellar first week's sales for a death metal record.

Ultimately, the music that was laid down should easily please any fan of extreme music, and there may even be a number of people that are pleased with the new vocal style. But for those of you that are familiar with Premonitions Of War, and you didn't like them because of their repetitve style, think of this as nothing more than a new Premonitions of War cd, only with over the top musicianship. Because that's about what it comes down to.