Leave it to Ephel Duath to follow up an already confounding catalog of avant-garde prog-metal albums with a new one that is a) a concept album told from the first person perspective of a dog, b) their first with new singer and professional poker player Guillermo Gonzalez, and c) album number four that also almost entirely drops the frenetic jazz-damaged black/grind chaos of their last few albums. You did read the first part right - Through My Dog's Eyes reads like a series of existential observations as narrated by a canine, but the most jarring aspect of this record for longtime Ephel Duath fans will probably be the change in sound that the band brings with this new record. There is less in the way of hyperkinetic stylistic changes and wonky jazz that marked The Painter's Palette and Pain Necessary To Know; instead, Ephel Duath have mutated into a kind of ultra-heavy noise rock prog, with huge driving riffs and swinging bluesy grooves, weird stop/start rhythms and textured chords. They sort of sound like a cross between Jesus Lizard and Mastodon and Voivod here, and while it did take me a few listens to get my head around it, I'm really digging this new approach. It's definitely a much more straightforward Ephel Duath that we're hearing here, though the music is still intensely quirky. Some of the riffs on songs like "Breed" and "Gift" have a weird deformed southern rock edge, but it's filtered through a bizarre Voivodian dissonance. One thing that has carried over from previous works is their skill at confusing time changes, and all of these songs wind and slither through obtuse arrangements that really do demand multiple listens for 'em to sink in. The element that really stands out is the use of slide guitar - there's slide guitar everywhere, which is where alot of the Jesus Lizard references come in (well, that and the staggering, herky-jerky riffage), giving these heavy, chunky slabs of metallic noise rock a sleazy, bluesy vibe. This might be a big change in style for these guys, but it keeps with the quirky, iconoclastic approach to metal that Ephel Duath has demonstrated from the beginning. I think it's great, and it's safe to say that this is the catchiest stuff the band has released so far. Oh, and Marco Minneman from Necrophagist plays drums on this disc, so it's a percussive powerhouse, and there's also a guest appearance from Ben Weinman from Dillenger Escape Plan.

This version of Through My Dog's Eyes is a limited edition deluxe release that also includes a DVD with a couple of interesting features. C'era Una Volta is a 22 minute interview/documentary with Ephel Duath's founding member Davide Tiso, that while not all that visually exciting, does give you an extremely informative history of the band and an explanation of where their ideas for this album came from. There's also a video for "Spider Shaped Leaves" and an animated photo/album cover gallery, so it's a cool package for fervent fans of Ephel Duath's oddball metallic genius. Packaged in a dual disc case with artwork by the mighty Seldon Hunt.