Review by Rachel Jablonski
Brain activity nil, eyes exhausted and yearning for continued sleep, I venture out of the house in the wee hours of the morning to face the harsh and demanding realities of a new day. It is bright and sunny to the dismay of my unadjusted eyes. It is, in fact, 9:30am, but hey that’s early to me. I stumble into the car, successfully turn the key, and immediately insert a new CD into the stereo. As I begin to gain consciousness, I brace myself for the hard-hitting wake up call I’m certain the disc from Century Media will be sure to provide. Anticipating early morning brutality, I continue to cringe in defense convinced a blast of unexpected energy will occur at any moment. But it doesn’t come. Slowly, I relax, wondering if I have even turned on the damn stereo. Confirming my ability to insert a CD into the player, I crank up the volume. Eventually, sound begins to saturate the car. Instead of the musical explosion my low functioning mind expects, I hear the soft sound of rain followed by very gentle and drawn out chords. As much as I love heavy music, yes even in the morning most days, I experience an internal sigh of relief. I am soothed into listening and become very excited about what direction this debut release, Ashes to Embers from Orange County’s Eyes of Fire, may pursue.
With soft instrumentation and smooth vocals consisting of many long, drawn out note repetitions, the song “The End Result of Falling…” proves to be a dramatic 7-minute undertaking. Very dark and relaxed, the song is inviting and leaves a welcomed impression similar to that I experience while listening to Radiohead. As the smoothness of the song continues the volume gradually increases and then pulls back again in closing. The track is rather long by today’s 3-4 minute song standards, but it seems quite short as the lull of mental notions melt into the music. But wait, can’t get too comfortable…
BOOM! Swiftly the energy I had been anticipating shifts into gear with the next tracked called “Empty.” The guitar driven attack is heavily aggressive and demonstrates quite a contrasting vocal style to that of the first track. Though the music is heavier and the tempo is slightly raised, the transition between tracks does not seem abnormal. In fact, due to discrete sound blending methods, the album flows rather naturally while allowing for individual song definition.
The repetition of the guitar riff in “Hopeless” is haunting. The deep hum of keys blended nicely with vocal accompaniment is mesmerizing. Somehow the riff could go on forever and I might not know the difference due to my reverie. A similar reaction seems to be produced in many songs throughout the album. Enticing guitar, steady beats, and complimentary keys combined with a variety of vocal approaches ranging from dramatic speaking pieces to rough growls to moving melody lines allow for an intriguing musical compilation. But perhaps most astounding of all is the ability of Eyes of Fire to stimulate my bewildered morning mind through their debut release. That’s quite a feat indeed.