Artist: Eyes of Fire
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: 3/23/04
Listen to the track "Hopeless" (Courtsey of Century Media)
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Title: Ashes to Embers Artist: Eyes of Fire Label: Century Media Records Release Date: 3/23/04 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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2 | ||
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5 | ||
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5 | ||
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Listen to the track "Hopeless" (Courtsey of Century Media) | |||
Abyss's Review:
If there's one thing I hate when discussing music, it's the phrase, "I respect what they're doing, I just don't really like them." I've always thought of that as such a cop out. If you like them they're good, if you don't they suck. No apologies, no rationalizations. I mean, if a girl made you wait to sleep with her, would you turn to her and say, "You know, I really respect you for making me wait all this time until we knew each other better, but now that we've done it, I guess you're not really my cup of tea. Sorry. But cheer up! Remember, I respect you... I just don't like you." It just makes no sense.So why did I bring up this pointless rant? Well, habit mostly - all my rants are pointless. But the real reason I say this is that, for some unknown reason, I feel like I'm really close to liking this record and some unseen force is preventing it.
"One word review: Frustrating." Eyes of Fire is a project by members of Mindrot, which is a band I know basically nothing about (but my curiosity has been piqued). So, if they are much like their former band, Mindrot fans may not consider this sound all that new. But I do. And that's the one thing I like about this band. They remind me a bit of Neurosis, but are less heavy and exhibit a more far-reaching range of emotion. They are equally moody, and have interesting compositions. In fact, the album reminds me of a cross between The Sun That Never Sets and Tiamat's Wildhoney. And in a few instances, the band seems brilliant. The problem arises with the fact that when they don't sound brilliant, they're ferociously dull. And I mean dull with a capital 'D'... which I guess is Dull. I've never really witnessed such a fine line between something I could get really excited about and something that could put me to sleep. The missing link seems to be songwriting; when it works this band is brilliant with an incredible new take on metal, and when it doesn't the sound remains original, but the songs just fall flat.
And because of this I'm going to check out Mindrot and seen if they are the genius minus the dullness, I mean Dullness. Despite my disappointment with this album, I still feel a slight, peripheral draw towards it, but each time I find myself disappointed. One word review: Frustrating.
Death's Review:
Are you ready for a total head trip album? A record you blast at loud volumes while spacing out to, yet which still makes you want to smash things at critical moments? Does a mix of Neurosis and Anathema sound appealing to you? The legacy of the now decade-old Mindrot lives on, as founding Mindrot members Matt Fischer (bass, vocals) and Dan Kaufmann forge new ground with the debut from Orange County, CA's Eyes of Fire (ex-Shiva). Bludgeon after bludgeon, the brutal guitar riff assault rumbles along throughout the record, although significant mellow passages abound, bringing a hypnotic dynamic to the proceedings. In fact, the album starts mellow, but by the second track you are taken in a different, dramatically heavier direction. Then the album brings it back down before repeating the cycle and crushing you in an on-off-on pattern throughout the album's ten tracks.
"Spend some time with this and you will be rewarded." Eyes of Fire's music is not pretty, but it exudes honesty and displays emotion while remaining musically interesting and uncompromisingly heavy. It is definitely an album you need to sit with: a couple of extended listens where the music is your focus (headphones, in a car with a nice stereo or kicking back on the couch perfectly positioned between a nice speaker system) should do the trick. This isn't the type of album a quick, sample MP3 is going to do justice to. You need to scream out the lyrics and get to know the music before you can appreciate the subtlety of the dynamic and the raw emotion behind the music. This album owes equal gratitude to the Relapse roster as it does the Pink Floyd catalogue - certainly not your run-of-the-mill combination. Call it what you will (brutal indie stoner/punk/space metal?), I call it killer. Spend some time with this and you will be rewarded.
Hel's Review:
Favorite tracks: "Down" & "Hopeless"Apparently, this band has quite a bit of history; however, I am utterly unfamiliar with any of it. Ashes to Embers finds me with a set of fresh ears, and despite the extremely mellow beginning which may put off some, this album has a ton to offer. The initial track is reminiscent of other slow, doomy, atmospheric bands, but later songs step up the pace. Additionally, the clean vocals on the first track are supplemented later on with some really great growling, thereby adding further depth and dimension to the songs.
"Ashes to Embers is a record well worth checking out." The songwriting may be the greatest part of the album. There is a lot of diversity between the individual tracks but they are all tied together with the common thread of skillful songwriting that takes their chosen genre and bends it in every possible direction. The musicians in the band have the talent to pull all these derivations off and they do so with style. I never once found my attention wandering because one song was too much like another - quite the contrary, in fact, I found myself smiling each time the initial bars of my favorites began.
I could rattle off a list of other bands that Eyes of Fire "sounds like," but I choose not to because not only is that not my style, but also because to do so would be misleading. The overall tone of one song may invoke band X, while the next sounds most like band Y, and so on. In general, you could toss this into the stoner rock/doom/atmospheric bin and be relatively happy with your categorization, but to merely say they sound like "____" would be an injustice in my book.
Ashes to Embers is a record well worth checking out. Fans of the aforementioned styles should consider it a must and indeed, I think every well-rounded metalhead should give this one a spin. While I may not love every song equally, the ones I adore most will ensure that this record returns to my player again and again. Those are also the same songs that kick this up from a 4 to a 5.
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