Review + Stream - House of Apparition - "House of Apparition"

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We’ve been following along with House of Apparition’s noisy black metal sonic nightmare for a while now, listening as the one-man band’s delved into a variety of interpretations of its ugly lo-fi style over a nearly two-year period of creative output. One of the highlight releases HoA’s put out had to be “House of Apparition”, which we streamed back in September. (Yes, it’s the same album name as what’s playing above, more on that later.) That album showed House of Apparition trying its hand at a concept album, and it worked murderously well—the whole thing presented like the soundtrack to a nuclear meltdown.

House of Apparition’s a devotee to the tenets of one-man anonymous black metal—songs are almost exclusively untitled, releases are either called “Demo [x]” (x in the mathematical sense), or “House of Apparition [x],” or simply “House of Apparition.” You’re not supposed to know much, and you won’t—the Metal Archives page sure won’t help. On this “House of Apparition” (the one streaming), House of Apparition has actually stepped a bit out of the lo-fi haze that many one-man black metal bands shroud themselves in. I’m as big a fan of barely audible black metal as the next tape deck evangelist, but I’ve gotta admit—the clearer tone makes for a more abrasive and heavy-hitting listen.

This EP is perhaps House of Apparition’s most clearly black metal release. Wonked-out punk stomping, an HoA favorite, opens it up, but the second track gets things going with an unhinged black metal blast that’s raw enough to keep it DIY but sinister enough to give the track some real heft. The album’s closer has HoA sounding heavier than ever, with abrasive industrial chugging that is a testament to some pedal manufacturer out there. All in all, this is one of House of Apparition’s best, and an album to listen to for anyone interested in what’s going on in the black metal basements of America.

This “House of Apparition” was out first on Triangulum Ignis on cassette, and now it’s out now on Crippled Sound Recordings as a seven-inch.

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