Tim Skipper - lead vocals, guitar
Colin Rigsby - drums, backing vocals
AJ Babcock - bass guitar, backing vocals
Jared Rigsby- guitar, backing vocals
House of Heroes got their start in 2002, when the three original members reformed their old
punk band (then known as No Tagbacks) and changed their name. They released What You Want Is Now, their first album, in 2003. In 2005 they signed them
to Gotee Records, and the band released their self-titled album shortly after that. They then re-released their self-titled
album on Mono Vs Stereo, their current label, in 2006, with the title Say No More, and two bonus tracks ("The Invisible Hook," and "You Are the Judas of the Cheerleading
Squad"). The new album The End is Not the End is their 4th full length
album to their created. It begins with an old-fashioned string session
that flows right into the second track “If.” A nice transition basically connecting the 2 tracks together is an
effect that I don’t encounter a lot any more. “If” is a smooth track, as sly as a fox, sliding through its
3:15 with a pop/coffee shop style with its super catchiness. The next track flexes their harder/power pop muscles with an
edgier sound. Both the vocals and music is a bit darker than the previous track which gives them a bit of versatility. They
also add in some cool effects. “Leave You Now” turns back to the softer pop of the second track. its another fairly
catchy track that features some good backing vocals. the main vocals seem kind of distant in and out of spots, but the guitar
solo definalty makes up for that minor flaw. The track is hard to hear in spots. “Dangerous” kicks off with that
western standoff sound then gets to the main course. The lead vocals are fairly decent but in spots the backing “Come
on, Come on” vocals are mashed together and hard to hear. “In the Valley of the Dying Sun” has some weird
sounding vocals that made me take a step back. There is also a section in there that sounds like a catholic church helping
out and the ending is really strange with a flurry of high pitches vocals. there are some cool guitar play, but the randomness
of the rest of the track switching from one style to the next is just straight up freaky. “Code Name: Raven” was
one of those tracks that caught my eye by the name alone then I got to listen to it and it showed some promise. It offers
up some good bass lines and drums with the sly pop vocals coming back into play. It’s one of the better tracks on the
album. “By Your Side” sounds a lot like a country track with the addition of the acoustic guitar used in the song.
It’s a simple track just trying to get float across the clouds in a brightly lit sky. “Journey Into Space (Part
1)” drops a huge bass line to begin the track with some cool riffs to follow shortly. The song continues is nice pace
through most of the track, but does hit a low spot. It finishes up strong dropping the same beat as the beginning. “Sooner
or Later” is an upbeat track that offers up the same sounds the majority of the album does. By track 10 you shouldn’t
be tried of the sound of the album, but in this case many of the tracks, although each have a small difference, the bulk is
the same. The track does pick up a head of steam towards the end, but starts to repeat a little. At this point it was hard
to go on for me, but I pressed on to the 11th installment. “Baby’s a Red” does more of the same
though at a slower tempo for the most part. The chorus does spice it up a bit but also implements an endless repeating of
the title of the track. “Drown” gets the tempo up and the blood flowing
once again in the beginning, but once the vocals enter the tone down the music a bit that is until the chorus when they decide
to pick it up again. The vocals are pretty clear, but the music when its grooving is the legs of the track, walking it down
the path to one of the best on the album. “Faces” has a nice groove to it as it kind of glides from the beginning
to the end. It to starts to pick up the end of the album from the super low point during the middle tracks. It offers good
vocals and nice easy listening sound that would be great in a coffee shop setting. “Voices” begins with a cool
sound then smoothes out for a while until is gets a little funky while House of Heroes ends the album with the nearly 9 minute
“Field of Daggers.” It’s another easy listening track that falls back into the footsteps of the middle of
the album. it does have a cool placement of low key backing vocals that give the song a new effect. Overall this album, while
I like to see longer albums, this has way to many tracks on it that sound the same. While they do show creativeness with some
of the effects they have added to their tracks, it seems that they need to write more aggressive music and branch out a bit.
This will take their music to the next level and gain new fans. Once they do that I think they will take the next step in
their careers. The writing is there lyrically and the creativeness with the music, just some spicing up is in order.
Rating: 6 out of 10
My favorite tracks:
Lose Control,
Code Name: Raven, Drown
Track List:
- Intro
- If
- Lose Control
- Leave You Now
- Dangerous
- In the Valley
of the Dying Sun
- Code Name: Raven
- By Your Side
- Journey Into
Space (Part 1)
- Sooner of Later
- Baby’s
a Red
- Drown
- Faces
- Voices
- Field of Daggers
Website (s): www.thehouseofheores.com
