Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
If House Of Gold & Bones Part One by Stone Sour was spectacular then what does that make Part Two? It can be argued that there are so few decent sequels that the idea of adding more songs onto an already revered album could be a dangerous move, suggestions would be aired that why not bring the two albums together into one fleshed out being, however when something is as thrilling, as attention grabbing and the second part of House of Gold & Bones then a six month interlude to get the passion stoked and the absolute clarity of the music into the psyche, then what’s the rush? Part One was spectacular, Part Two is awesome.
The narrative of the album bowls the listener over as if hit by a thousand cricket balls in one go, punishingly brilliant and devastatingly simple, for a heavy metal album with Progressive overtones it is up there alongside the greats of the genre, Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Queensryche’s opus Operation Mindcrime or even Sabbat’s Dreamweaver. It is also thankfully in keeping with the initial outpouring of work but with a hint of more darkness, more sadness that from Corey Taylor’s vocals that suggest the music is taking you further into a world where not is all it seems…the punishment of a thousand cricket balls coming at you at once, flying through the air with directness and the knowledge of pain cannot compare to the throbbing tenderness, the surreal beauty of House of Gold & Bones Part 2.
Like the first album, it is not a recording to listen to out of synch, it still works by playing individual tracks but then why would you want to lose the expansive narrative and film like quality of the music by doing so. However there are a couple of absolute belters woven into the fabric that make it possible, such as Black John, the haunting Sadist and the beautiful bone crunching of Stalemate. These three tracks show best the craftsman ship in making this album a must listen to.
One of the very few albums that doesn’t suffer from being a second part to an already stupendous piece of work, insanely gratifying, full of haunting lyrics that Cory Taylor sings with absolute conviction and above all an album that rages against the machinery of mundane mildness.
Sensational!
Ian D. Hall