HOUSE OF GAMES ‘RISE AND SHINE’ (RAM MUSIC/ROCK INC)

A total surprise, because I had never heard or read anything about a band called HOUSE OF GAMES until I put their debut CD ‘Rise and shine’ into the CD player and   what I heard was very sensational.

HOUSE OF GAMES is an Estonian band with a Melodic Hardrocksound that sounds fresh and updated, yet has the melodies of the 1980s and some cool Progmetal riffs here and there, an incredible lead singer called ERIK MEREMAA (STEVE LEE of GOTTHARD meets TOMMY HEART of FAIR WARNING meets DANNY VAUGHN of TYKETTO!!!) and a bunch of superb songs included here.

All together a huge sounding album (mixed at Finnvox Studios and mastered in New York at Masterdisk Studios) that sounds like a mix between VANDENPLAS, GOTTHARD, DREAMTIDE, LEVERAGE, FAIR WARNING and TYKETTO, wow!

Funny to see the CD has been out for a while, because it sounds very sensational and each and every song on the album is amazing Melodic Hardrock, with as highlights “My child”, “Hunter”, “Evil in needle” (GOTTHARD meets BROTHER FIRETRIBE!!!) and “Spanish man”.

Only the last couple of songs are a bit weaker, but overall this is a super impressive record. A little history on the band learns they exist since 1994, already released an album back in 1994, are quite popular in Estonia, have toured a lot, in the USA (playing the legendary club CBGB) and in Europe as support for THE RASMUS and WASP. Sensational band to check out asap if you like GOTTHARD, LEVERAGE and BROTHER FIRETRIBE, with a very slight modern touch here and there (to keep things sounding up-to-date), although not much really! More info at: http://www.houseofgames.org 

(Points: 8.8 out of 10)