Deathcore has spent the last decade mutating into increasingly technical, polished, and theatrical territory. Some bands chase symphonic grandeur. Others lean into hyper-technical brutality. The Indianapolis wrecking crew named Mauled take a different approach on When Your Eyes Are Shut. They drag the genre back toward the raw chaos of its early years.
This six track EP feels deliberately rooted in the sound that first defined deathcore in the mid-2000s. There is blunt force riffs, suffocating breakdowns, and vocals that sound less like performance and more like an exorcism caught on tape. But Mauled aren’t just recreating nostalgia. Instead, they weaponize those familiar elements with modern production weight and a sharper emotional focus.
After a brief into, the EP detonates with “Mouthful Of Glass,” featuring guest vocals from Frankie Palmeri of Emmure. The track wastes no time establishing the band’s intent. They want churning guitars that grind forward while drummer Tyler Powers drives everything with relentless, almost mechanical precision. Kirkpatrick’s vocals alternate between serrated highs and cavernous lows, cutting through the mix like a circular saw.
“TheLastThingYouSee” and “Unidentifiable Autopsy” push deeper into the EP’s violent core. Riffs pile onto riffs, breakdowns arrive like collapsing concrete, and the pacing rarely lets the listener breathe. Yet beneath the brutality there’s a surprising sense of control. Mauled know when to slam the brakes before another crushing groove lands.
The EP’s emotional centerpiece arrives with “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” featuring JP Kaine of Surfaced. Beneath the sonic carnage lies the record’s real thematic focus of betrayal, heartbreak, and toxic relationships processed through extreme catharsis. Kirkpatrick’s lyrics walk a fine line between revenge fantasy and emotional confession, capturing the suffocating feeling of being trapped in a relationship you know is destroying you.
That tension gives When Your Eyes Are Shut more depth than its gore splattered surface might suggest. Yes, the imagery leans into deathcore’s traditional violence, but the emotional core feels rooted in real experiences of loss, manipulation, and grief.
The closer. “For Me… It’s Always Like This”, brings the EP to its bleak conclusion. The track slows the tempo slightly, letting the riffs breathe before collapsing into one final punishing breakdown. It’s a fitting end to a record that feels less like a collection of songs and more like a controlled detonation.
What Mauled do best is channel the visceral energy that made early deathcore exciting in the first place. The influence of bands like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence is obvious, but Mauled inject their own urgency into the formula.
At only six tracks, When Your Eyes Are Shut doesn’t overstay its welcome. Instead, it delivers exactly what it promises with relentless riffs, bone snapping breakdowns, and enough raw emotion to keep it from feeling like pure spectacle. For fans who miss when deathcore felt dangerous, Mauled offer a brutal reminder.
