House Of Lightning – Self Titled

Self Released – Released:  December 1^st 2016

First things first: let’s get Henry Wilson’s impressive resume out of the way, shall we?

Yes, he fronts House Of Lightning with his distinctive guitar and vocal stylings.  He’s drummed in legendary Florida sludge outfits Cavity and Floor, and this isn’t the first band that he’s fronted.  His previous project, Dove, put on one of the most impressive displays of live prowess that I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing.  They played on the floor at an arts space in Lowell Massachusetts, and they absolutely killed it, laying down a non-stop barrage of chunky stop-start riffs and aggressive rhythms, mixing the groove of stoner rock, the urgency and immediacy of hardcore, and topping it off with High On Fire’s undisputed desire to punish.  I will always remember that as one of the greatest live experiences of my brief and uneventful life, especially since it just came out of nowhere, these three guys playing in a relatively unknown band setting up and laying it down like their very lives depended on it, and in the process winning over a crowd that previously had very little exposure to them.  That’s how it’s done.  If you don’t have their solitary self titled release, I’d recommend at least checking it out, especially as it will give a bit of context to this review.  There are certain similarities between Dove and House Of Lightning, besides that they share a frontman, though House Of Lightning brings some rather distinctive influences and attitudes to the forefront.

I mentioned Dove’s penchant for hardcore punk, and that’s the obvious jumping off point.  Their songwriting was punctuated by stop-start rhythms, syncopation, and unexpected twists and turns in the song structures.  These are all things that are still incorporated to great effect with House Of Lightning, though there’s more of a focus on melody, particularly with the vocals.  While Dove utilized a lot of shouted and screamed vocals, all of the vocals on House Of Lightning’s second album are cleanly song, with a laid back delivery and lyrics focused on positivity, peace, and unity.  The vocals have a deliberate reggae vibe to them, as evidenced by their choice to end the liner notes of their debut record with “Thanks and praise to Jah.”  That factor combined with the rapid, thrash-inspired riffs lead me to point to The Bad Brains as the strongest and most consistent influence throughout.  Overall, the six songs on this album are even more melodic than on the debut, Lightbringer, though they’re also a bit more same-y.  There’s often not much distinguishing one song from the next, which they can get away with since the album runs just a hair over 36 minutes.  The one noticeable change of pace comes in the form of the fourth song, “Small Hours”; it’s a slower tune with guest vocals provided by Melissa Hope Friedman, who also contributes backing vocals on a couple tracks.

It’s also worth noting that House Of Lightning have added a bassist for this one – on their debut, Wilson used synthesized bass.  Fellow Floridian Eric Hernandez of the band Wrong now holds down the low end.  Drummer Rick Smith is also a new edition, hailing from the band Torche.  It seems like there’s a lot of cross-pollination going on within the Florida scene, as Jonathan Nunez, bassist for Torche, recorded this album, and it sounds terrific.  The guitars are big and beefy, yet they’ve got enough crunch to cut even when they’re chugging along at maximum velocity.  The drums are constantly in your face, and the bass has enough high end bite to accentuate some of the funkier melody lines going on underneath the mayhem.

I’m going to end this review by pointing out that House Of Lighning have chosen to finance and release this album by their lonesome rather than work with a label.  Self releasing is a bold move from a band whose resume sports such pedigree.  Their previous debut was released on Translation Loss Records, and I’m not sure what prompted their split with that label, or their decision to release this album themselves, when I’m sure another label would have jumped at the opportunity.  It’s a gutsy decision, though one that’s often pragmatic given our state of the music scene and economic makeup in this country.  By releasing a record themselves, artists cut out the label and directly reap the profits of their labors, though a label usually has more resources at their disposal in terms of promotion and distribution.  I bring this up because I personally think it’s important that bands put a lot of thought into their choices to work with like-minded labels when they record an album, or whether to self finance and self release their music.  Many younger bands put all of their cards into the same hat, hoping to get on the label of their dreams and sometimes subsequently taking deals that aren’t particularly in their best interests.  It’s good to see a bunch of veterans like House Of Lightning demonstrating that a truly independent release is still a viable option for any band.

Reviewed By Andy “Rama Llama Ding Dong” Beresky