Angel House hail from one of the heartlands of hard rock in the UK, namely Birmingham in the industrial West Midlands.  The band were formed in 2004 from the ashes of “Franklin” by brothers Pete (vocal and guitar) and Phil (bass, vocals) Easthope, with drummer Simon Cooper completing the three man line-up. In the years leading up to the release of this debut album, “World On Fire” they have built a strong local fan base through relentlessly gigging and honing their material. 

“World On Fire” has a real traditional metal feel to it and this trio certainly manage to create a very powerful sound throughout the album. What I really enjoyed was the clear, uncluttered feel to the whole album and since it does not appear to resort to many overdubs and any additional musicians, the sound has almost a live feel to it, without being too raw. Initially I was a little unsure about the vocal style but after repeated listens I really began to rate Pete Easthope, who finds a good balance between power and harmony.  

There are some cracking riffs on this album and just picking tracks at random will result in finding something that will grab your attention. Opener “Mask” sets the standard immediately with its driving rhythm and there is no let up with the nicely paced “Loaded Too Late” and “Dying At Your Door” where the riffs really start to come together. The more you listen to this album, the more you begin to hear all sorts of little influences from the bands these guys have grown up listening to, from Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Diamond Head and even Magnum back in the days of Marauder, it’s all there. 

Whilst this album relies predominantly on power there are still moments of subtleness with the intro to “Hush-a-Bye”, which builds to be one of the highlight tracks alongside the excellent “Weapons For Self Expression”, which again starts with an acoustic intro and builds strongly upon some evocative lyrics. This brings me to one slight criticism in that occasionally the lyrics can be a little on the predictable side but I am more than willing to put this down to part of the learning process on a debut album. 

There is depth to this album and no weak tracks towards the end, if anything the strongest is left to last with title track “World On Fire” a real barnstorming track, which simply makes you want to hit the re-start button on the CD player. In short, lovers of good old fashioned hard rock will relate to this album and I hope it’s not too long before I catch Angel House live because these guys know how to rock.

Dave McKenzie