Review | House Of Lords – Full Tilt Overdrive

Frontiers Music srl

There has been a steady flow of House Of Lords albums since their resurrection in 2003, being led by singer James Christian. To be honest, the band never stuffed up as all albums had a certain level of quality. Their 2022 record ‘Saints And Sinners’ saw the introduction of keyboard maestro Mark Mangold (Touch, Drive, She Said). He fitted in well with the soaring vocals of Christian and the excellent guitar acrobatics by long serving member Jimi Bell. In fact, on ‘Saints And Sinners’ James and Co seemed to have been injected with new energy.

A NOTCH OR TWO

On their 14^th studio release ‘Full Tilt Overdrive’ James Christian (who also handled bass duties), Mark Mangold, Jimi Bell, and drummer Johan Koleberg (the latest recruit) have scaled the sound of the band up. Although House Of Lords always stood guarantee for an exquisite form of melodic hard rock, on this album things have been geared up a notch or two. The songs (with a few exceptions) have received a rougher edge, the tempo has gone up and this group is rocking harder than they ever did before.

Kick ass opener ,,Crowded Room’’ sets the tone for the bulk of the album. I doubt if the fans of the group have ever heard Christian belt it out as aggressive as he sings on this record. He has certainly not lost his melodic touch as he proves on the warm sounding ballad ,,I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye’’ but in sequence with the songs he has found another range in his voice. And I like it…

IMPRESSIVE

Beefing their sound and songs up has done the group a world of good. Jimi Bell has plenty of room on this album for his hard riffing (,,Bad Karma’’) and splashing solos while Mangold has more of a supporting role, although he gets a few moments that he stands in the limelight. On album closer ,,State Of Emergency’’ Mangold absolutely kills it with a superb solo that is being followed by some Jimi Bell acrobatics. It is an impressive affair all around.

HOUSE OF LORDS – THE CONCLUSION

I am more than pleasantly surprised by what I have heard on ‘Full Tilt Overdrive’ (the title track rocks your socks off). James Christian sounds like a young God rolling back the years. Johan Koleberg (who played in bands like Therion, Talk Of The Town, Hammerfall and Wolf) gives the music an enormous drive and kick up the bum with his efforts while Bell and Mangold absolutely have their moments. But above all, it is more about energetic heavy songs (the up-tempo rocker ,,Cry Of The Wicked’’ has an epic duel between Bell and Mangold) and a very direct in your face sound. Kudos to James Christian and his other musicians. For me, they have outdone themselves in the most positive manner. This album rocks people!

Release date: 11 Oktober 2024