The first listen to this, the second album from Finland’s House Of Mirrors, left me in a rather confused state. On that initial playback it appeared that House Of Mirrors were uncertain over the musical direction they wanted to take. Was it AOR, Prog, Prog Metal, Power Metal or something completely different?

Desolation may contain some brilliant ideas and different feels, in some cases within the same song, but it may be that, in places, there are simply too many ideas for comfort. Some of the ideas are, how can I say it, “environmentally friendly?“  For instance play the intro to 'Where Are You Now' and then play Jimmy Barnes' 'Too Much Ain't Enough Love' from 'Freight Train Heart' and you'll see the similarity. There are one or two instances but I’ll spare the band any more blushes as they certainly aren't the only outfit guilty of this sort of thing.

Having resigned by self to the fact I still had have to review Desolation I stuck it on MP3 player and listened to it constantly over the course of a week and, after 5 or 6 listens, it started to make partial sense.  From the opening riffery of the title track, with its intricate guitar/keyboard interplay to the power metal of 'Broken Soul' or the ballad-esque 'Where Are You Now', 'Gone With The Summer' and 'Heart To Heart' Desolation is constantly changing. At times you can hear elements of Deep Purple, Europe and even M.ill.ion in the tracks and throughout there are Yngwie Malmsteen flourishes to the guitar playing, listen to 'These Chains' to see what I mean.

To sum up, this album was one that give me a feeling of desolation to start with, but as the band name implies the album is a reflection of many  musical styles and ideas. However rather like being in a  house of mirrors the more reflections one sees the more confused things become. Band main men Pekka Rautiainen and Jaakko Niitemaa are to be commended for trying something different that, in hindsight, works on some levels, but then again on other levels doesn’t. The band need another set of ears to listen to their material. A good producer will be able to do this and if they can make their next album a bit more easily accessible in the way  'Fallen Leaves' is they will be onto a winner

Let us know your views on 'Desolation'

Track List

Desolation
Fallen Leaf
Broken Soul
 Where Are You Now
Waiting In The Wings
 On The Red Line
 Gone With The Summer
 These Chains
 Masquerade
Sparks Will Fly
Heart To Heart

Line Up

Pekka Rautiainen - Vocals
Jaakko Niitemaa - Guitars
ankke Kuismin - Bass
Jussi Mäkelä - Percussion
Rasmus Puranen - Drums