Genre: Post-Hardcore/Electronic
Label: Shock Records
URL: http://www.myspace.com/housevshurricane
Country: Melbourne, Australia
Australian post-hardcore act House vs. Hurricane releases a new, label debut album after their amazing first release, Forfeiture. The last two years three members of House vs Hurricane left the band, but that didn't let them stop their progress in making a new album. All I can say is I'm still amazed by the fact that Australian bands ALWAYS deliver. I'm yet to find an Australian band that isn't, in fact, good. Melodic yet heavy when the hammer strikes, intense screaming, beautiful clean singing. Not that common to the genre is the heavy use of synth, which was featured in Forfeiture aswell. I'm not a fan of pure synth music, but when it's mixed in like HvH does it, it makes them stand out a lot and it sounds really good. Bands are seemingly too afraid to include too much electronics in their songs, but HvH aren't afraid to experiment. First song on the album, Leaps & Bounds, gives a very strong first impression. It starts with a nice picking intro, which turns into melodic riffing together with the picking. It's hard to explain, but it sounds so damn awesome that I could listen to it over and over again without ever tiring. Later on in the song you get a taste of breakdowns, smooth piano-ridden intermissions blended with aforementioned heavy synth. You really get to know HvH right in the first song. About half in, you encounter one of the best tracks on the album - Experiences, which features an impressively catchy and energetic intro which ought to make your shake at least one of your bodyparts. Later this song turns into heavy beating and spacey synths which gives kind of a cozy feeling. The album as a whole features an almost-the-same sound throughout all songs, which is pretty disappointing. No peaks or surprises, except in Leaps & Bounds and Experiences. But don't get me wrong, it's not bad. Not at all. It's just not as good as Forfeiture was. When I heard the intermission II. Softlight, the next to last song, I was really building up for what hopefully would turn out to be a killer track - III. Nevermore. It gave me mixed feelings however. The intro wasn't what I would've expected, but later on in the track you get a lot of melodic verses and clean singing, so let's say it starts not-so-good, but ends with a bang (figuratively speaking). Something noteworthy is that not only does the album feature 12 tracks, but lots of them are over 4 minutes long.
Ultimately, it's a solid album that's guaranteed to grant you a lot of listens. It was not what I was expecting, seeing as Forfeiture was really good I was hoping for an even better sequel. Nonetheless a very solid release and I'm sure HvH won't take any steps back from here.
Best song: Leaps & Bounds
Score: 8/10
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