House Of Games - Rise And Shine

Published March 06 2007

*=Staff's pick	My Child 24 Hours Hunter* Ave Maria* Evil In Needle Friend Spanish Man Sugar And Spice* Schizophrenia Dreamin' Rise And Shine*

Genre	Hard Rock	Erik Meremaa	Vocals
Tracks	11	Kalle Vilpuu	Guitar
Runningtime	54 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Ram Music	Henno Kelp	Bass
Release	23 March 2007	Andrus Lillepea	Drums
Country	Estonia	Jevgeni Babkin	Keyboard
Similar artists	Bon Jovi, Talisman, Tesla, Fuelhead

Estonian hard rock, how common is that? I dare you to try to mention one more band. The only contact I have had with Estonian metal before is a compilation that was free for download some years ago, but I have never heard of any of those band later and House Of Games was not one of those featured. Rise And Shine is their debut album even though the band has existed since 1994 and been touring with Finnish band The Rasmus and with metal legends W.A.S.P. during their 2006 tour in Europe. But now is perhaps the time for House Of Games to break, as they have single material for Evil In Needle recorded in USA with producer Kevin Shirley (Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Rush), so good things might be coming their way.

The music is hard rock, simple as that, and if I were to link it to a period in time it feels like an up-to-date version of the early nineties, but with an apparent link to the modern more commercial oriented rock. The music is tight, melodic and well performed and holds traces of American hard rock as well as AOR. At the same time as House Of Games seem to be similar to a lot of bands, they also do not sound as any one in particular as they somewhat found their own niche. However, with the song Hunter they cannot hide the Bon Jovi references from me.

It is catchy and easy-going hard rock you get from House Of Games, and occasionally they throw in some heavier riffing parts as in Ave Maria, which comes out heavier than any other track on the album. That this is well performed and done in a very professional manor there is no doubt about, but for my taste this is a bit to slipstreamed and many of the songs on the album go by unnoticed. But if you do like House Of Game, although I think they could be better by being a little heavier, I recommend you to check out the Swedish band Fuelhead.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	1	6	6	4

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - Thomas