Review Summary: Were you thinking of releasing an ambient hardcore album sometime in the near future? What, you were? Well think again, because House Vs. Hurricane’s ‘Perspectives’ just handed you your ass. On a platter. With garnish.
The Melbourne, Australia based House Vs. Hurricane are:
Christopher Dicker, vocals.
Ryan McLerie, guitar, vocals.
Joey Fragione, keyboard, piano.
Christopher Shaw, guitar.
Sam Osborne, drums, percussion.
Dylan Stark, bass.
Okay, now: whilst definitely a band with the metal chops to be deemed ‘heavy’, House Vs. Hurricane go about their debut album ‘Perspectives’ in a far more refined manner than most. Shying away from pure aggression, this album’s significance relies more on the manipulation of atmosphere, the influence of reflective lyrics and an intricate display of musicianship.
Most notable here is the sublimely pertinent utilization of ambience; Joey Fragione is a near constant authority within each of these 12 tracks. At times accompanying the rest of the band with sheer atmospheric effects, a grand sonic scale is achieved, as the album comes across as more of an aural experience, rather than simply another metal recording. Some credit for this must be presented to the recording of the album itself, which was undertaken at Salad Days Studios, Baltimore; ‘Perspectives’ really does sound just delightful. Fragione’s other role is to, quite often throughout the tracks, become musically a part of the band, as opposed to existing as a mere accompaniment. His sweeping piano sections and pulsing techno-based keyboards unite seamlessly with the rest of the band; if one was to select a single downfall of House Vs. Hurricane’s 2008 EP ‘Forfeiture’, it would have to be that this was not always the case. ‘Perspectives’, however, displays the results of a more purposeful inclusion of these sections; a good example is the album opener, ‘Leaps and Bounds’, which showcases the effects of each of Fragione’s instrumental contributions – on keyboards and piano.
The lyrics of ‘Perspectives’, accredited to Dicker and McLerie, are greatly effective in persuading the mind of the audience to consider the themes and values being presented in the music. From what I can gather, House Vs. Hurricane are urging us to remain steeled with our ‘perspectives’, and resist the pressures of the exterior world, despite the difficulty in doing so:
‘Needless to say it is difficult, to hold a moulded choice of the character you are, in a place that attempts a forceful persuasion of us all.’ – ‘We, The Reserveless’.
Perhaps even more effective at examining the role of perspectives within our lives is the short story included in the liner notes of the CD. I won’t divulge the specifics regarding this, so you will have to buy the album yourself to find out, but it adds a further creative element in the portrayal of meaning within this record.
How does the remainder of the band stack up? Rather well, indeed. Dicker provides the screaming, which makes up a majority of the album’s vocals, and does so with precision and consistency. McLerie contributes with his clean singing, and possesses a more than adequate voice to fulfil this purpose; a bulk of the songs seem to climax with these cleanly sung sections, and are done masterfully enough to be a highlight of the album. The guitars of House Vs. Hurricane, (McLerie and Shaw), tend to be on the side of unremarkable; in saying this, in no way do they particularly need to be groundbreaking. At some stages, especially while the guitars are in the midst of their hardcore-breakdown style assault, one may be reminded of a less inventive brand of metal – (for instance, For Today came to my mind). It is here that the magnitude of Fragione’s presence within the band is felt; his support to the remainder of this band is the crux of the experience: without him, the tracks would be bland; with him, ‘Perspectives’ is a potent musical and atmospheric bliss. Musically, a standout is surely the three part album closer; with a dazzling instrumental interlude (‘Softlight’) at its core, House Vs. Hurricane demonstrate that they do in fact have the song writing capabilities to compete with even the most acclaimed adversaries of their genre. Such a demonstration is actually more necessary than it may seem; the preceding tracks may be, to some, a little too similar to each other for comfort. However, these similarities lend themselves to the allowance of ‘Perspectives’ to be an album experience; listened to as a complete set, this album moves with a greater fluidity than most records could dream of. These structural and musical elements form ‘Perspectives’ as a journey of ‘cinematic hardcore’, as described by the band themselves – this title is immensely apposite: there is far more going on here than plain old hardcore.
Prominent tracks?
Leaps And Bounds.
We, The Reserveless.
Off The Wall.
I. Sinister, In Many Forms, II. Softlight, III. Nevermore.
Highly recommended.
