House Of Lords: New World – New Eyes (Frontiers, 2020)

Long-running melodic rock band House Of Lords reached a milestone this Summer with the release of their new album New World – New Eyes. It’s the band’s 10th studio release, which is pretty impressive for a band a lot of people had written off in the ’90s. Founding singer (and this time around, producer) James Christian continues his partnership with Guitarist Jimi Bell and drummer BJ Zampa, and brings back Chris Tristram on bass. They also enlisted none other than Mark Spiro (Giant, Bad English) for songwriting support.

Pretty much all of the post-’90s House Of Lords albums have been consistently good, but occasionally one will rise above the pack. The last one for me was 2015’s Indestructible, but New World – New Eyes comes pretty close. It has a great mix of hard rocking songs and those slower love songs that James Christian sings so beautifully and they all do a great job sticking with you once the album is over. You can definitely pick up Spiro’s influence on the songs, as a number of these tracks have that classic 1990-1992 melodic rock vibe. My favorite tracks so far are “The Chase,” “The Both Of Us” and “New World – New Eyes,” but most of these could slide easily into any “Best of HOL” playlist.

I’m never disappointed by an album with James Christian on vocals, but it’s nice to have a new House Of Lords album that’s really exciting and vital again. There’s a lot to love about New World – New Eyes, so long time House Of Lords fans won’t want to miss it.