Through the Eyes of the Dead, ‘The Manifest’ — Killer Lyrics

Killer Lyrics: The skin strips from my body, the flesh from my bone / I rapidly plummet through hordes of burning, tortured souls

Florence, S.C.'s Through the Eyes of the Dead return with their third full-length, 'Skepsis,' releasing Feb. 2 on Prosthetic Records, and the lyrics to the album overall tell a story of horror and the supernatural. Vocalist and lyricist Danny Rodriguez's words are based on a story concerning a schizophrenic who has recurring dreams about spiritual forces that desire to bring humanity to damnation. "He has a vision of himself being submerged in the underworld of souls, where an omen 'enlightens' him," Rodriguez told Noisecreep. "He then believes that if he channels that omen he can inherit celestial, 'godlike' powers, and that if he uses them to sacrifice humans to the omen, he'll be spared from his own damnation."

The lyrics above, taken from the song 'The Manifest,' deals with the protagonist's descent back into the underworld, after a nice round of mass murder and alcohol poisoning. "The omen tells him that he was deceived and that damnation would be his final resting place," Rodriguez went on. "Hence the line, 'Degrade and mourn. Damnation is your throne for eternity.'"

The album closes with 'Dementia', where The story for the album closes with 'Dementia', where the protagonist believes he has just awoken from a dream. "He's alone and all he sees is white -- he's in his own personal hell for eternity," Rodriguez said. "So in reality, his schizophrenia killed him. Skepsis is a philosophic doubt as to the objective reality of phenomena -- his skepsis of reality was the 'Omen.'"

Through the Eyes of the Dead begins a full U.S. tour in mid-February, with Otep, Bury Your Dead and Destrophy.