23rd September 2025

Review: “Reckoning” by House Of Hosts

“The making of our Reckoning EP made us look into ourselves and ask what made us who we are and what we stood for. As a result, this is our darkest and grittiest release to date, but there’s a prevailing theme of hope and rebirth running through the entire record” ~ James Russell, guitars

While you should never rush perfection, having given us just a pair of singles in 2023’s “Oblivion” and 2024’s “Bound By Fate” a debut EP in “Reckoning” in 2025 feels a little bit overdue from Welsh riff slingers House Of Hosts. Perhaps part of the delay was in the decision to cut those two tunes adrift as standalone and create four brand new cuts with a a little more fire, focus and desire having learned a few things about themselves on the way, thanks to time spent in both the rehearsal space and upon the live stage. Hailing from Swansea means the Welsh five piece of bassist Jack Hunt, drummer Beth Goodwin, guitarist duo James Russell and Ross Davies and Daniel Foley-Griffiths have the pride of a nation behind them, the only question being, have they creatively evolved over the past two years?

Distant echoes of bands like Soil can be heard in the Alternative Metalcore of “Through My Eyes” with stomp laden verses and a soaring clean vocal chorus from Daniel Foley-Griffiths that is built from the ground up for those arena sized sing-a-long moments. A powerful statement piece that has the band wearing their collective hearts and influences on their sleeves, means that there is no mistaking what House Of Hosts are wanting to do and the emotional weight of the message in this one with its introspective lyrical narrative makes it one that resonates. Taking a different route to remain “Darkest Days” actually leans on influences in early Avenged Sevenfold, something that rears its ugly head in the chorus with slick leads and clean vocals augmented by gang chants. The harsh bark of the unclean verses and crunchy urgent riffage gives the verse more punch, the fleeting solos and final breakdown elements very well worked and leaving you wanting more. Again, that emotionally charged sing-a-long element is front and center and will go down very well live. That might sound like something of a cliche but its true because when its all said and done an anthem for the disenchanted is always a surefire winner.

Dirge laden riffs enhance the almost ethereal clean vocals on “Pedestal” as the band bleed A Perfect Circle influences in the chorus, Daniel Foley-Griffiths demonstrating a stunning vocal range as he switches from the harsh moments to the clean ones. Over the course of the record he uses four or five different voices, each one bringing something a little different to the Kings table. A scorching solo rising from a melodic bridge is a jaw dropping double take moment because its almost completely unexpected and as it continues to burn brightly underneath the chorus that follows, on the first couple of spins, it will make you wonder what you’ve just heard. Another ripper of a solo is held within the heart of “Confession“, a darker tale with some glorious extended instrumental passages. A melodic bridge that builds into gang chants in the final third is a nice touch, the bouncy riffs borrowing from Asking Alexandria and confirming the band have what it takes to go a long way. The reason for that is because the band have a broad ranging instant appeal, the quality of their musicianship is impeccable and the production polish on this record is plentiful. All that is missing from this is that one anthem that really pushes them to the next level and them hitting that nail on the head is just a matter of time [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Through My Eyes
2. Darkest Days
3. Pedestal
4. Confession

“Reckoning” by House Of Hosts is out 26th September 2025