Move over Ian Gillan, there’s a new “hairy scream” in town and his name is JR Vox. The mighty Neuronspoiler are back with a new album and the boys have done us mere mortals proud with their latest offering, The House Always Wins.
Neuronspoiler – The House Always Wins
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Steve Kenton
Within this absolute banger of an album, their fourth to date, there are ten well-crafted tracks with something for everybody. It is fair to say that you will want to listen to this album over and over again. Make no mistake, though. Although this album feels like a NWOBHM vehicle with a modern twist, none of the tracks are hackneyed or clichéd. There is originality in abundance along with top-quality musicianship.
Produced by Guillermo ‘Will’ Maya at Los Rosales studio in Madrid, Spain and featuring JR Vox on vocals, David Del Cid and Adam Breyer on guitars, Loki on bass and Francesco Giorgianni on drums, you have a bit of everything here, from the 1980’s imbued, radio friendly, Crazy Love, to the brilliantly original Crimson Tales, with its off-kilter timing and killer riffs.
However, The House Always Wins is not just about the incredible musical talents of these Neuronspoiler guys. Lyrically, they are at a level that puts them at the top of the game, too.
One of the stand-out tracks, Witness, is a rather intriguing track that leaves you wanting more. A tale of murder and mystery always makes good listening, and this track is no exception. Again, it has that ’80s feel with its tight, heavy drumming and frenetic guitar solo, but there is a freshness about the number.
Now, if you want anthems to get those musical juices flowing, just ask, and ye shall receive in abundance. Neuronspoiler have been exceedingly generous here and delivered not one, but two absolute barnstormers to get your hair flying and your fist punching the air.
Spoils Of War is a chunky bass and drum-driven call to arms, interspersed with some fiery fretwork from Breyer and Del Cid, and is imbued with a ridiculously catchy chorus. But let’s talk about JR Vox’s vocals. Holy nuts in a vice, Batman! How on earth he reaches some of those high notes is a mystery only shared by him and Ian Gillan. It’s quite likely that every dog within a mile radius of the recording studio were left whimpering, given the pitch that Vox reaches.
New Thing replicates aspects of Spoils Of War, with its catchy chorus and rousing lyrics. Of course, the guitar work is brilliant, and absolutely, the engine room throbs like a 1967 Mustang, but the beauty of these two numbers is the fact that they are both memorable and rollickingly good fun.
Crazy Love and Hundred Years are the two most radio-friendly numbers, with the former being an unapologetic nod to 1980’s heavy metal. You can read the review of Crazy Love here.
Neuronspoiler gave an insight into why Crazy Love was selected as the group’s new single in the video at the top of the page. “Crazy Love is one of the shorter songs,” JR told MetalTalk. “We’ve always been told you need a radio edit, and we get very upset. Why do you want to chop my song to three and a half minutes? So we thought, OK, Crazy Love is the shortest one. It’s got some chorus repetition, it gets in the brain and lodges in the brain like an earworm, so it was quite clear that this would be the second single.”
Hundred Years is a hard-rocking love song that, despite its slow build-up, eventually reaches a crescendo that blows out the speakers. This really is a feel-good number with some rather uplifting chord changes and stunning vocals, which makes this quite a mainstream rock number.
The other standout track on this album is Crimson Tales. With a rather unique AI driven video, I asked the band how the concept for the video came about. “It’s cheaper and faster,” they said. “Poverty is poverty. We thought we would do a lyric video, and then we said, we could do it faster, maybe we could do something more dynamic or more like a story. We thought it would be a bit better using AI.”
The track is an unexpected classic, with its left-field timing and key changes. Breyer and Del Cid, once again, prove that they are an exceptional pair of axemen. Launched last November, this was the first release from the new album. You can read the review of Crimson Tales here.
Self Afflicted has a chugging, driving rhythm to it with a raw, animalistic feel to it, and the two guitar solos are absolutely exquisite.
Let The Sun is another track which features some highly intelligent lyrics. It could be argued that the subject matter of the song is rather bleak, but do not let that fool you into thinking that it is not a great song. It is a cracker. There is almost a Middle Eastern flavour to some of the guitar work. There is also the dichotomy of JR Vox’s soft melodic vocals, suddenly bursting into high octane octaves. With some nice bass fills and some pretty awesome drumming, this is a masterpiece of a track.
With Barren Soil and Ascend To Death, making up the final two tracks on the album, you have a fine mix of different Metal styles on this album, and it is not just the different styles that make this offering a vital part of your music collection.
