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HouseMaster

I Paroni De Casa EP

Written by: PP on 01/10/2007 02:10:16

A part of the reason for the delay of the review of HouseMaster's demo EP "I Paroni De Casa" is that pretty much everything you can find out about the Venetian band is written in Italian, and pretty much the only word I know in Italian is 'spaghetti'. Cultural stereotyping aside, the real reason is essentially the same one that has been highlighted in other reviews of this EP across the web - I'm having real trouble understanding what it is that this band is trying to achieve. The band throws in such a big mix of different styles and genres that I don't wonder why everyone's confused about them.

The core of the music is inclined towards straightforward 80s thrash, complete with scratched yells, low tone thrash riffs and repetetive rapid-fire drumming. Around the core, the band throws in some death metal grunts, grindcore-esque shrieks and other oddities that don't really help the songs in any way. Moreover, the band has chosen to sing two songs in English, one in Italian, one in Spanish and one in German. This isn't a job interview and you don't get extra points for showing off your language skills. The constant jumping from one language to another is a big annoyance, and something i certainly hope the band will get rid of before they release an official EP.

The production is non-existant, giving the record even more of an 80s thrash feel, as it sounds like it was effectively recorded in a garage...except there are no garages in Venice to my knowledge. But in today's era of digital processing, you start to expect a certain level of natural skill into fine tuning and honing your songs, especially if you are going to send them off for a review. The picture "I Paroni De Casa" EP gives is that the band set down into a basement, played and recorded five songs in a row, and then burnt it onto a CD-R and sent that out to a bunch of different webzines. Bear in mind this is coming from me, the person who usually advocates low-budget productions on this site.

The promo sheet accompanying the demo says the band has a love for b-movies, which can be heard in the lyrics. While this may be true and is an entirely acceptable approach into song writing (after all, the gore-grind bands are even worse), it gives me yet another chance to give some slack to the band. You see, the entire demo EP actually sounds like a b-release. But to cut the band some slack, I realize this is a demo EP and they are just trying to get feedback from as many sources as possible. So I don't wanna write them off just yet. After all, few bands I know have been amazing already during their demo sessions where they are trying to find their identity. As I'd like to end my review in a positive note, I'll just say that I bet Metallica sounded something like this a few years before they started releasing anything and when they were still learning their instruments. There are moments scattered here and there where you raise your eyebrows a bit and say "hmm, that's interesting". But unfortunately they are few and far between.

Download: Evil Eyes
For the fans of: 80s thrash
Listen: Myspace

Release date 01.01.2006
Self-Released