Orange County's Eyes Of Fire first began in 1996 under the moniker of Shiva, providing former Mindrot founders Dan Kaufman and Matt Fisher with an avenue in which they could experiment with their metal desires. After a lengthy touring stint throughout the West Coast alongside such acts as Meshuggah, Cave In and Lacuna Coil, the group found themselves being courted and later signed by metal heavyweight Century Media Records. On their debut EP, the group offer a preview of what is to come on their impending full-length as well as a view into where modern metal is heading.

These songs boast a thick tribal style most commonly associated with the likes of Sepultura, yet the band insist on pushing the music further, including introspective wails that penetrate through the gloomy murk being churned forth. Kaufman is reminiscent of former Earth Crisis frontman Karl Buechner on the album's title track, bellowing with determined vocal bravado, while John Haddad's drumming bludgeons with animalistic fury. Ben Smith's keyboards avoid the overused European prog. rock element that has peppered many of the genre's releases as of late, instead using his skill to infiltrate the metal being conveyed with subtle flourishes that thicken and empower the music to expand it's parameters. Such moody theatrics greatly enhance "Hopeless", a gloomy track that vocally hints towards the operatic depth of Fear Factory or V.A.S.T., and is bolstered by the elliptical twin guitar injection of Fisher and Cary Petersen. In fact, the first two tracks featured here are drastically different in tone and direction, and it would be easy to dismiss them as being from two different groups if it were not for the album closer, a spacy metal explosion titled "Anyone". Seemingly combining the visionary aesthetic of Pink Floyd with a more metallic edge, this is Eyes Of Fire's most triumphant moment, and a promising precursor for things to come.

For such a brief offering, "Disintegrate" collects a myriad of influences into one cohesive style that relies heavily on it's metal merit but shows little fear in exploring well beyond the boundaries of aggressive music. The band clearly have an affinity for dark ambient electronica and use this effectively to create multi-layered tapestries of noise that benefit from richly atmospheric textures. There is still a hesitancy noticeable from the group as they seem wary of stepping out of the metal cloth that cloaks them, and as such the album is weakened slightly from their reliance to play what is familiar. Regardless, this is an intriguing glimpse into what Eyes Of Fire are capable of, and one can only imagine where this fiery, multi-faceted quintet will venture come the new year.