HOUSE OF SPIRITS |
| House Of Spirits are : Olaf Billic on Vocals Benjamin Schippritt on Guitar Martin Hirsch on Bass The tracks are : 1. Take Me To The Other Side (3:20) 2. Back On My own (4:31) 3. History is Repeating (4:36) 4. World Full Of Pain (5:07) 5. Voices (2:18) 6. Voice of My Heart (3:24) 7. Safe The Secret (4:36) 8. Time Is Drawing (3:44) 9. Oblivion Night's (3:43) 10. Dark & Light (4:34) 11. Back At The Double (3:29) 12. Psychosphere (3:24) In the early 90's, Olaf Billic and bassist Martin Hirsch released two albums 'Beyond' and 'Acts' with their progressive metal band Jester's March. Unfortunately the new hopefuls of German metal parted ways due to various reasons, but Olaf and Martin's long standing friendship encouraged them to continue and reform as House Of Spirits with drummer Jörg Michael Musielak (known for his work with Running Wild and nowadays Stratovariuos, among many others). G.U.N. Records released their debut album 'Turn The Tide', but despite enthusiastic reactions from the nedia and the public, numerous problems with their label and a split from their management, disheartened House of Spirits, so the band fell apart in the beginig of 1996. However, the individual members were always active in the German scene, Olaf Billic worked as a session vocalist for the bands Falcon and Faithealer, Jörg Michael Musielak joined Stratovarious, and the talented Benjamin Schippritt studied guitars in Arnheim and Martin Hirsch did not only join Hilton, but also played bass on Morgoth's final tour. During the summer of 1998 an old demo tape was discovered, revealing the formidable musical talents that each of the members possess. The high quality of the material was soon discovered by Century Media Records, who could not wait to hear the results of the recording session of 'Psychosphere'. 'Psychosphere' offers 12 tracks lasting 46 minutes of high quality melodic metal. The opening track 'Take Me To The Other Side' starts off with some nice keybaords followed by a heavy, but melodic guitar sound. The vocals are powerful from Olaf, there's a catchy chorus and some excellent guitar and keyboard work. The next track is 'Back On My Own', this high tempo melodic track has a mixture of vocals, whilst some sound very echoey, there are some normal sounding vocals too. Again this track has a catchy chorus and there's some superb guitar work too. The third track 'History Is Repeating', starts with some nice keybaords and these are maintained throughout the track. There's quite a strong drum sound with some powerful riffs from Benjamin's guitar. This is another track witha cathy chorus. The next track is 'World Full Of Pain', there are powerful riffs which then changes and becomes more intricate and more melodic. The vocals are powerful and emotional. This is a very nice track with some excellent guitar work. 'Voices', acoustic guitar, atmospheric sounds and keyboards. The vocals are kind of subdued on this track. There's some nice intricate guitar work from midway through the track till the end and this continues into the next track... The sixth track 'Voice Of My Heart', continues in the same direction for about thirty seconds from the previous track. The music then changes direction going into a heavy riff with occassional flashes of intricate work. This track also contains a superb guitar solo. The next track 'Safe The Secret' starts with some intricate guitar work with a fast and powerful heavy bass line running beside, there is then a change in tempo going to a slower beat. The guitar work still maintains an intricate nature, but has a heavier feel to it, until the vocals come in, then it's a mixture of intricate and heavy riffs and with occassional flashes of some nice melodic keyboards coming in. There's a great guitar solo towards the end. 'Time is Drawing', this track starts witha short, but sweet drum solo, then there is a sound of a ringing bell coming in. The vocals this time are slightly muffled, but are combined with some nice harmonious vocals and this is a very effective mixture. The ninth track is 'Oblivion Night's ' a fairly heavy track, that still maintains a nice melodic quality about it. The drums have a very strong sound to thema nd there's some very nice bass and some great guitar work. The next track is 'Dark & Light', which starts with some keyboards that have a middle eastern flavour to them, this is followed by some intricate guitar work once the vocals come in. 'Back At The Double', has a fairly heavy riff to it, but once again, there is a lovely melodic quality about this track. Powerful vocals and an excellent solo from Benjamin. And the final track, which is also the title track 'Psychosphere', starts with some intricate acoustic guitar, this is then joined by another acoustic guitar. Then the bass is added and then some soulful electric guitar, which later changes to some heavy riffs. Overall, this is a very atmospheric and dramatic track and finishes the album off nicely. 'Psychosphere' is a high quality album full of powerful, yet melodic metal songs. The musicianship is first class and the quality of songwriting is excellent. Should appeal to most metal fans, definately worth a listen! This CD is released by Century Media Records. USA 1453-a 14th Street #324 Santa Monica, CA 90404 Phone : 310 574 7400. Tel : 310 574 7414 mail@centurymedia.com GERMANY Schaeferstrasse 33a 44147 Dortmund Tel : +49 231 8297 0 Fax : +49 231 8297 101 Email : dortmund@centurymedia.com Website : http://www.centurymedia.com |