ALBUM REVIEW: IX – Host
Often when a band experiences a dramatic and ultimately short-lived change in its sound, the proclamation is made with hindsight that ‘it should have been a side-project’. This is the exact course-correction which singer Nick Holmes and multi-instrumentalist Greg Mackintosh from icons PARADISE LOST undertake with their new venture HOST. Named after the 1999 album that exchanged their melancholic goth-doom metal for slick dark synthpop, the duo revisit the electronic sound with the debut album IX.
Opener Wretched Soul sets out the electronica stall rather tentatively, dominated as it is by organic instrumentation of strings, acoustic guitars and a real drumkit, with the only synthetically produced sound being the pulsating bass backbone. Its mood of menacing doom means that with a small tweak in arrangement it could have easily been a latter-day PARADISE LOST epic. Things progress with Tomorrow’s Sky which invokes the atmosphere of the goth club, with its danceable drum-machine beat and EBM synthlines combining for a solid mid-tempo coldwave banger. Hiding From Tomorrow, another single which explores the dread of the unknown, is a lively electro-rock track. Holmes displays his vocal songcraft here by utilising four different hooks over the same chord progression, each of them with the potential of becoming an earworm.
As a whole, IX sees Holmes doing a lot more singing than he has in a long time. Whether he’s stretching for a high harmony or delving into his deep baritone, his voice sounds like it has only gained strength and texture from the years rediscovering growling. Meanwhile, Mackintosh is able to fully explore his love for sound design. Bludgeoning synths that could come from a 1980s Some Bizarre release live alongside brilliantly rendered ghostly atmospherics. With all that, there is still room for melodic guitar lines (A Troubled Mind), or even the occasional bed of distorted power chords, so the link to heavy music is not completely torn (Instinct). The result is a richly layered sound within a broad range of dynamics and styles.
The duo also hit a variety of moods, with Divine Emotion seeing a rare foray into the major scales, but not without wrongfooting you with a claustrophobic breakdown. Less impactful is My Only Escape, whose instrumental sparsity in the verses bleeds into the realms of the monotonous. The latter third of the record is where the stylish sound design shines brightest. Years Of Suspicion evokes the DEPECHE MODE comparison that stuck to the original Host record, but with the twist that it echoes three distinct eras of the Basildon group. Between its metallic synths, dirty bluesy guitar refrain and sombre orchestrations lurk the sounds of Black Celebration (1986), Violator (1990) and Ultra (1997). Another treasure is found in Inquisition. Perhaps the truest successor of the original Host album, it dials into the laid-back melancholy of songs like Deep and Harbour and contains one of Holmes’ best vocal lines.
Where IX comes up somewhat short is in the memorability department. While undeniably of high quality while you are listening, the songs do not effortlessly seep into your mind, but rather they dig little by little. This is not necessarily a criticism – many would argue that 1999’s Host suffered from a similar predicament, but that makes it only more satisfying to revisit over the years. Having taken this familiar musical blueprint and expanded it, HOST have created nine compositions that contain depth and hide layers which will reward repeat listening, and, in time, could make IX a cult classic comparable to its older brother.
Rating: 8/10
IX is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
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