Midnight Manor – House of Cards

Midnight Manor – House Of Cards
(Independent)

Reviewed by Marius Nel.

Who said that the romance has gone out of rock? Well… nobody specific but I think that this is the case for a large part of the genre: you get either the angry Slipknot style stuff or stadium rock which is playing to the masses. Here, however, is a definite album with heart – a work which is truly, according to the driver of the project, Tommy Rock, “a labour of love”: In the space it took to complete the album, the originator went through a relationship breakup, physical injury and depression. And the love has been felt by more than just this reviewer: according to Indie record blog Reverbnation this band ranks second in New Zealand and Auckland for rock and 4th for all genres.

One gets the feeling that this is an artist whose music is a revving engine that needs to go places – all it needs is a band to provide the vehicle and an appreciative audience to provide the road. Unfortunately, however, projects like this one get sidelined by bigger names and, sadly, audiences who are too slack-jawed to be bothered to listen to anything else but what the media and trends feed them – unlike the days when Tom Scholz started the band Boston by recording the first album single-handedly before putting together a band and achieving enormous success. Or Trent Reznor with Nine Inch Nails. Audiences were much more open to new ideas and music then.

Open your ears and mind, however, and have a good listen to House of Cards for an exploration of the road less travelled – that of the musician who does it for the love of making and recording good music.

From the opening “Anybody out there” with its wry message of our quest for meaning and being disappointed when we find the answers, to the final track “Cause and effect”, we are taken on a ride through good driving metal with soaring vocals, solid rhythm and searing lead guitar, pausing for softer, more gentle songs like “I see it written” with a quiet major sevenths intro with piano and acoustic parts.

One of the songs that stand out is the broken-heart love song, “Picking up the pieces” which starts with a beautiful, glittering glockenspiel-like intro which is shattered by the metal kickoff. This is a haunting, moving piece for all those who have loved and lost, with Tommy’s beautifully controlled vocals soaring on the chorus..

The other standout song is “There’s a new day”, a message of hope where Tommy’s vocals are a superb vehicle for the reassurance in the repeated simple yet effective line, “There’s a new day; Good things take time”. I’m convinced. And the reference here to the labour of love that this album has been is not lost on this reviewer. I found this track singularly moving.

The only instrumental on the album is “Come Alive”, which starts with piano and strings which carry the accompaniment for the beautifully doubled overdriven guitar embracing you from left and right in the stereo landscape – to be heard with headphones! The lead guitar is creamy and plush. This is a great instrumental production.

Tommy has been at work on this album for five years, recording and mixing everything at home and then mastered at Stebbing Studios in Auckland by Simon Lynch, produced by Tommy Rock and Ian Chambers. The production of this album is immaculate: instruments and vocals are layered and plush with maybe a touch too much reverb in one or two places, but overall I fully endorse this album for its concept, composition and the virtuosity of its execution.

“House of Cards” is this band’s debut album. During the recording of this album they had already started work on the second and third albums – “Mindful Games”, the next one, will hopefully be released towards the end of 2018.

This labour of love firmly deserves recognition and success: the production is on a par with what some of the best studios in NZ have to offer and the musicianship is superb. This makes me wonder how many weekend warriors there are like this band who don’t have gigs or a big name but feel the urge to make superb music, no matter whether it gets heard. I look forward to hearing “Mindful Games”.

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