Black (metal) Country Music
Angel House was formed in 2004 and have risen from the ashes of Birmingham based band Franklin. Angel House hail from the industrial midlands of the UK and continue the tradition which has spawned some of the World's greatest rock bands (well Sabbath anyway!) from this area, (Magnum, Shy, Diamond Head - 3 of my personal favourites, and touches of these bands can be heard). They play loud hard rock music (another genre to add to my list) and have a very strong reputation for delivering an awesome 'balls out' live show
The whole 80s rock/metal scene has seen a revival of sorts over the past couple of years, which if you're an avid fan of that era like me, it can be an absolute orgasmic experience, or in some bands case, you'd wished they had never got back together in the first place
What Angel House do give you is a classic 1980's sound typical of the bands who emerged from the 'NWOBHM' and Classic Rock bands such as Thin Lizzy etc. They are only a three piece with Pete Easthorpe handling the lead vocals and guitar. Opener 'Mask' has a good clean crunchy riff and a chorus hook I can't stop singing and his vocal work throughout the album reminds me of Tygers of Pan Tang's Jon Deverill.
What I am getting to is this, Angel House play music born out of the classic 1980's period, with riff laden catchy hooks and hair brush at the ready choruses
Stand out track of the debut is the damn excellent 'Knowledge' with a pulsating rhythm and pounding base line courtesy of Phil Easthorpe (Bass) and Simon Cooper (Drums), underneath the excellent guitar work from Phil. Other highlights include 'Dying at Your Door' , 'Revolution', 'Superstitious Woman' and the title track 'World On Fire'
Production has been handled by Mark Stuart (Magnum) so you know the quality is going to be up to it. All the songs are nicely textured and enjoy an easy flow, sometimes soaring but only occasionally flagging. Musically this is excellent, vocally could sometimes do with a bit more range, but that's just me being too picky, however this is one CD that will be getting more than the occasional listen.
I personally had never heard of Angel House until the CD dropped through the letterbox, and, on the evidence of this, I'm glad it did. I imagine Angel House will go down a storm in their native Midlands, as they have always been an appreciative bunch of Metalheads. Hopefully though, they will go on to deserve a wider audience than this.
This British band needs your support! Recommended!