Dead Eyed Sleeper is a German death metal band that already released two albums under the moniker Legacy, before changing their name. After this they released their “debut” album in 2007, followed up by Through Forests Of Nonentities which I hold before me now. Let’s see what these Germans are up to!

The versatility of Dead Eyed Sleeper is their key asset. Not only do they they play some severely technical brutal music, they also pack a fat groove and can keep things interesting when the tempo goes down a bit as well. The record is a concept album and has been divided into three parts, or chapters as they call it, all consisting of three songs. The first chapter, called Enclosure, is a pretty fast and brutal display of technical death metal. The second one, entitled Transformation, is a more toned down, doom/death piece of music. The third and last chapter, fittingly named Exit, picks up the pace a bit more again.

 

Yet, even with all this praising, I still have to say that when I listen to this record I find it hard to keep paying attention. I have no idea why. At first I thought it was the music, but when you pay close attention you’ll notice that they’re all skilled musicians. These guys can be very glad to have such a tight, skilled and most of all groovy drummer, but then again he is/was also active in numerous other bands like Ahab (as well as one of the guitarists), Deadlock, Mortified, Mystic Circle and BlackDust. Then I thought the problem was with the production, yet this is also pretty good. The record was recorded at Iguana Studios, which bands like Necrophagist have also used, so this couldn’t be it. So I gave up looking for the answer and started listening real carefully, only to find a good slab of technical and dynamic death metal with good brutal vocals. Perhaps the problem is that the abundant slower parts take the pace out of the album a bit too much for me, yet for those that like some mid-tempo and even slow headbang riffs with their fast technical bashing, Dead Eyed Sleeper is your band. But as the band says: judge for yourself!