Not since NILE’s “In Their Darkened Shrines” have I heard a less engaging piece of music. Frequently while listening to this album I have been awakened by the pain and confusion of my head crashing into the keyboard as I drift off to sleep.

It’s not that this album is particularly bad, because it isn’t. It just feels kinda repetitive around the halfway mark and downright boring towards the end. Each song is slow and melancholy, featuring fairly (read: very) simplistic chugging riffs and shouted/clean vocals. The music is also lent a dark heavy atmosphere by some Industrial noodling. The music itself has a very sapping effect, draining life and energy from me like a leech. The effect is only intensified by the morose vocals, which sound like they wouldn’t feel out of place at a funeral on rainy day.

When it comes down to it, this review is coming from someone who is not a massive fan of all things gloomy, which is more or less what EYES OF FIRE personify. Personally I wouldn’t subject myself to this release in the future, but for fans of well-produced dirge-like Doom Metal, this release just may give you the feeling of despondency you crave. (Online September 17, 2006)