Defying it all and producing the goods
A new band from Melbourne, House Vs. Hurricane is made up of some young guns with enough energy and youth that they believe House Vs. Hurricane to be a viable name. But this actually makes me like them more since, like a racecar that's going to run out of sealed road, the momentum keeps up.
There's an interesting line in their press release that says 'a explosive fusion of ambiance, hardcore, rock, melody, experimental and electronica, to create a sound that some have tagged 'Cinematic Hardcore' (sic)'. Hands up who believes that anybody other than the immediate family of members of the band have ever called it that? Right. Still, that speaks to the band's youth and vigour. You can get away with this stuff when you're full of piss and vinegar. And I for one like that kind of thing. The cross-breeding of different genres; the sweeping arpeggios; the clean vocals; the keyboards. It's not playing by the rules because House Vs. Hurricane doesn't believe there are any rules. Which is refreshing.
The melding of synth and metal is similar to British young'uns Enter Shikari, except with less of a trance influence. There's the clean vocals/heavy vocals staple of a lot of post-hardcore, probably drawn from the band's love of Alexisonfire. Of course, being an Australian band, they refuse to use an Australian accent in the vocals, but that's to be expected. The cover art is superb and unique, a complete package.
The songs are short and punchy, demonstrating who this band is without overstaying their welcome. Comforting Our Thoughts In A Continuous Blue is a magnificent eruption of energy that calls to mind Devin Townsend and Killswitch Engage in a single chord. Colour Space is a sweet instrumental reprieve sandwiched between the metallic onslaughts of Seeing Things Through Water and The Only Virtue.
It's great to see bands sticking the middle finger to the conservative attitudes and mores of old school genre. You aren't going to be able to put House Vs. Hurricane into a box, but I'm not sure why you'd want to, unless you're stacking shelves at the record store. And if you are stacking shelves, you're probably a music fan. And music fans shouldn't want music that's easily classifiable.
This is supposedly only an EP, but it has seven tracks so depending on your genre, that can be an album or just a stopgap. Whatever it is, it's a professionally produced release for a band that takes itself seriously.
(El Shaddai Records/Amphead Music)
