Eyes of the Living – Fear Comes Knocking (Blood Blast Distribution)

Monday, 7th March 2022 By Matt Coe

Rating: 7.5 / 10

Calling Philadelphia, PA home, Eyes of the Living as a quartet have a steady, blue collar work ethic when it comes to thrash since their inception in 2016. Sharing the stage with notables like Gojira, Misery Index, and Exodus, Fear Comes Knocking is their second album, aligning to Blood Blast Distribution in hopes of expanding their following. The marriage of aggressive lyrical content (touching on betrayal, fear, anger, and religious topics) and equally punishing musical support ensures the listeners will get authentic, driving material – taking the present circumstances/ state of the world and using it as fuel for a greater, entertaining outcome.

Wasting no time getting down to business for “Scream for Me”, the stunted riffing and militant, straightforward drumming along with a Metallica-like guitar break allows the band to go for the jugular as the ideal opener. The diverse rhythms and complementary accents from Tim Swisher and Mike Straiton straddle different aspects of the modern, groove, and extreme metal platforms beyond their thrash wheelhouse – check out the slower yet pounding “Destroy Everything” as well as alternative-sounding “Void” for dynamic diversity. There’s plenty of solid Testament/ Exodus-oriented songs that feature swift double kick, memorable fills/transitions, and raspy/forceful vocals – “Feeding the Wolves” and “Hell to Pay” sure to fire up the legions. And those that love old-school style choruses packed to the gills in gang-oriented glory, along with a catchy bass underpinning, wild divebomb soloing, and additional supportive sadistic cackling voices, you’ll enjoy the metal spirit pouring forth from the title cut. Doubling up on vocals, Tim’s main duties are serviceable but won’t exactly put him in the elite class for the genre – you wish at times he would take a few more chances for outside the box melodies or screams.

Kudos for abandoning the typical ‘skull/zombie’ cover art themes as well – Eyes of the Living are one of those bands slugging it out to climb the ranks, and Fear Comes Knocking does a decent job of putting them on notice for the underground to support.