Album Review – Glass Houses, Wellspring

Glass Houses are a North Dakota metalcore quintet whose debut album Wellspring was released at the end of last month via InVogue Records. As with many metalcore style releases Wellspring is an album that veers between intense pummelling metal with barked vocals, and lighter moments that feature melodies that veer into the heavier end of pop punk territory. The first track is the single release, Apparitions, and I was pleasantly surprised as this appeared to be a step up from many of the other metalcore releases I’ve heard this year, however as the album progressed I found there is so little variety contained on Wellspring that I actually stopped noticing when one track had finished and the next one had commenced.

My initial reaction that they had managed to avoid the pitfall of overproducing their album, one that so many of the other metalcore and rock releases I’ve encountered this year haven’t just fallen, but happily dived head first, into, is somewhat tempered by the fact that Wellspring becomes formulaic and repetitive after a few tracks. I began to get deja vu by the fourth song, and by the tenth and final track I found that everything had just merged into a protracted session of bone crunching guitar riffs and intense drumming. I will say that for this genre this is one of the better albums I’ve heard this year, but in case you hadn’t guessed it’s not a style that I find easy to warm to.

If Metalcore is your thing then I’d recommend checking out this album, as this is an energetic and brutal mix of pop punk and intense metal that is skilfully delivered. I would also think that Glass Houses could well be a band that come into their own in a live environment, and if you want to check them out on tour Glass Houses will be playing a series of dates with label mates Everyone Dies In Utah, Convictions and Conspire this autumn, and they are also scheduled to play at the So What?! Music Festival on October 21st and 22nd.

Wellspring can be ordered via InVogue Records here