House of Heroes "Colors" Album Review

By: James Southworth
Rating: 4/5 Stars

House of Heroes, is, in my opinion, one of the most underappreciated rock bands in the modern scene. They get critical acclaim with every album, but they have still managed to stay relatively underground and unknown. But, it does make me feel all the more appreciative that I managed to find them. They are easily in my top 5 bands, and if you take a look at their impressive discography, you can understand why. Although I'm not huge on their, their consecutive releases have really impressed me. "The End is Not the End" is one of the best sophomore releases I've ever heard, boasting a lot of musical range, gorgeous vocal harmonies, and some deep powerful lyrics accompanied by catchy choruses. "Suburba" is a straight up fun record playfully satirizing the adolescent life and celebrating God's love for us. "Cold Hard Want" is still their best record for me, offering up some amazing cuts like the absolutely intense songs "Comfort Trap" and "Out My Way", catchy rock anthems "Dance (Blow It All Away)" and "Remember the Empire", and easily their best song to date in the incredibly well-written and amazing sounding "Touch This Light". So, to say their new album has excited me the most for the summer is an understatement.

"Colors" is HOH's first attempt at a concept album. Now, there's no denying all of their other albums have connecting themes, but none of them really told a story. This one does, and, while a little hard to figure out at times since it's in poetic form, it is still a very interesting story with some really great characters- and, what's more, it plays out almost like a Shakespearean tragedy with more hope attached to it. There are three main characters we follow: Eric, introduced in "Colors Run", is a very Christ-like character, with a pure heart hoping to follow his dreams and marry his lover Joni in the process. But he also comes from a place of failure, not sure where his path should lie, and whether he should follow Joni's philosophy of choosing one's own path, or listen to his cousin Axel, who believes one should just go with what their one unwavering path is, and leave dreams behind. Speaking of Axel, he is the character that gets the most songs about him, which ultimately makes him more of the main character despite Eric more conventionally fitting the role of protagonist. Axel should be called an anti-hero, someone who has followed an immoral path to gain power because he believes that's what he should do. But, he also has a sympathetic edge to him in his attempts to love Joni and his struggle to connect with God. What ultimately unfolds is Eric seeing Axel shoot someone, and Axel tells him to keep it quiet or he could end up dead. Eric does, but only for a while. He knows he has to ultimately face Axel in order to keep Joni safe, and so, after declaring his love for her, he faces Axel. But what happens is tragic: Axel kills Eric. Axel quickly realizes the weight of his act, and tries to redeem himself by asking Joni to run away with him. She rejects him, and he ends up in jail. We are never certain whether he rejects his actions or not.

This album has a very strong opening with the super catchy "Colors Run", which ultimately serves as a motif for the whole album. "Colors" seems to be a metaphor for the destiny, or even more darkly, death. Axel points out at one point how one day the colors will fade, which seems to mean that our blood will stop and we will die. This is how he justifies trying to endlessly gain power- he might as well try to have it all and maybe, in the end, he could be invincible. The chorus of this song is both catchy and relatable, stating, "Why can't I be more?/I don't wanna fight my father's wars,/But nothing comes easy where I come from,/So we sweat it out in the concrete sun,/Till the colors run." Even if a listener cannot connect with any other song, I think they could certainly connect with the idea of attempting to be an individual who does not simply conform to what generations past have done. The musicality in this song is just amazing, with a great guitar riff that gets embedded in your head. This guitar riff is repeated several times throughout the album, making this song feel like it has even more weight to it.

Perhaps the most pleasing part of "Colors" is that it shows off HOH's intense side quite frequently, and both "Pioneer" and "Rat" are great examples of that. Tim Skipper is practically belting his vocals on "Pioneer", and in "Rat" his voice is nearing screams in the intense and memorable chorus. The songs are both short, aggressive, and perfect in what they attempt to do. "Pioneer" brings up the interesting idea of how far someone should go to make an impact, while "Rat" brings up the theme of when an action is actually betrayal. "We Make Our Stars" is a real lyrical highlight of the album, bringing one of the more pervading arcs of the story: paving a path for yourself. (We can't change the color of our sky/But we can rage against the night/We can't hold what falls apart/But we make our stars") Perhaps the most interesting thing about the chorus is it can be looked at as either positive or negative: on one hand, one can make great things happen when they pave their own path, but on the other, following certain paths can be destructive. The album claims that Eric's path is ultimately more pure because he's motivated by God. Axel, on the other hand, has individualistic intentions and this ultimately leads him to destroying others and himself. The song sounds deceptively simple; in reality there's quite a bit of weight in its meaning. Never has the theme of "following dreams" felt so complex.

"Feel" and "God" go more in depth into Axel, who I believe is the best developed character and the one that more people will be able to connect to (which I think was HOH's intention). While "Feel" has Axel boasting that he feels great with all the power he has over his town, "God" shows his more vulnerable side as someone who does not actually understand God. It even highlights his own insecurities and how he uses power to cover those up. The chorus is interesting in its willingness to show doubts about God:  "If I forsake my family/If I forsake my blood/Tell me what's in it for me?/If I forsake my demons/If I forsake my love/Tell me what's in it for me?" The chorus is done cleverly to where it could very well be the us asking this question of God. Musically this song is just awesome, going from very soft acoustic guitar to a very bombastic guitar riff and some loud drumming, along with Skipper's amazing vocals doing the same extreme shifting. Because of its lyrical and musical complexity, I see "God" as the strongest track on "Colors", creating both an interesting character as well as something believers and non-believers can relate to: doubting God, or even the presence of one.

 "Colors" continues to impress with "In the End", which is simply beautiful in the way that Eric expresses his compassionate love for Joni with some excellent imagery:  "Here's the wonder keeping stars apart/I carry your heart I carry it in my heart/Like a lion running to the slaughter/I'll come for you daughter/I'll come for you in the end". The lion metaphor makes Eric stand out even more as a Christ-like figure, and his love for Joni certainly reflects the love God has for us. The harmonies done in the chorus bring to mind something that could be in "The Lion King", and it works really well and makes the song stand out even more. The song "Matador" is easily the most chaotic on the album and serves as the climax for the story, with a great building guitar riff and more and more intense vocals as Axel and Eric face off. "Shots Fired" comes directly after "Matador" and contrasts its chaotic style with a simple acoustic guitar and soft vocals emphasizing the tragedy of Eric's sacrificial death. "Colors Die Out" is a bittersweet anthem making one question whether Axel will truly change or not. But the song also seems to ask us whether we consider our own sins. Will we willingly stay in the prison of our sins, or will we try to learn from them and break out?

There's only two real weak points to this album in the songs "Crash" and "Getaway", both of which weren't necessarily bad, they just didn't have any memorable moments or lyrics to point out. Other than that, "Colors" is one of the best concept albums out there. HOH have told a compelling story with some great characters, particularly in the flawed Axel, who is meant to reflect the human imperfections present in all of us. There are so many great songs on here. Please do yourself a favor, and check this masterful work out. After that, check out this House of Heroes' other awesome works!

Favorite Songs: "God", "Colors Run", "In the End", "Rat", "Feel"

Least Favorite Songs: "Crash", "Getaway", "Shots Fired"