House Of Protection – Outrun You All (EP Review)

House Of Protection – Outrun You All
Released: May 23, 2025

Lineup

Stephen Harrison | Vocals, Guitars
Aric Improta | Drums, Vocals

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“Not to be boxed in, to be able to transcend boundaries: for an artist, it's essential.” - Shahzia Sikander.

Although Shahzia Sikanderis a Pakistani-American visual artist, globally recognised (and awarded) for her works across an array of artistic platforms including drawing, painting, print-making, animation, installation, performance and video; her quote above is practically the perfect proverb for dance-punk duo House Of Protection. Guitarist/vocalist Stephen Harrison and drummer/vocalist Aric Improta do not just transcend boundaries with their musical experimentations, they obliterate them. As Mr. Harrison told Rock Sound in 2024:

“We want this to be colourful, and we want it to be not only whatever we want it to be, but whatever you want it to be. We want everyone to mesh and exist together in this space. We have songs that are mosh-y, we have songs that are dance-y, and we have songs that are just a chill vibe. Anybody can come to our shows and not feel out of place.”

A mere eight months after the two-piece released their critically acclaimed and commercially successful debut EP GALORE, HoP are back with their sophomore effort Outrun You All. The title is adopted from one of Stephen’s many tattoos, a lyrical tribute to mathcore luminaries Converge’s 2004 genre-bending exemplary ‘Black Cloud’ from the astonishing You Fail Me full-length.

Spoiler alert: There is unquestionably no part of Outrun You All that can be boxed in or marked as a “fail”. What Stephen Harrison and Aric Improta have achieved with their sensational second instalment is a ‘Wishing Well’ of musical wonderment.

An eerie electronica introduction creeps in that feels somewhat informed by Sweden’s The Knife and ghoulishly serenades with the lyrical message: “I'm dreaming in all directions, come and find me in the house of protection”. It mirrors the idea of a horror film soundtrack; the song being exhibited moments before a hideous rampage of terror takes place. There is no need for panic though, what is to follow is nothing more than remarkable revelry.

‘Afterlife’ strikes with an astounding amalgamation of the electropunk royalty The Prodigy and the progressive alt-metalcore of Liverpool’s Loathe. Extraordinarily though, this thunderous beginning doesn’t define the track, it solely presents it as an attention-seizer to the spectators. While resounding post-metal roars shake the Earth, a Deftones’ aura incredibly intervenes acting as a siren’s song of safety – perhaps as a metaphoric entrance to the House Of Protection? Within this house, the chaos the witnesses are encountering in an abrasive musical exhibition is experienced through a sheltered vocal demonstration of angelic beauty. But, only momentarily, as it is sung:

“Point of no return”…. Hold on.

‍‘Godspeed’ accelerates this typhoon in every element, yet it moves from a nu-metal driven dance rap-rock extravaganza, to moments where a forgotten song from Anberlin’s criminally underrated Lowborn is remixed into the composition for the chorus under the instruction of Calvin Harris.“We have songs that are mosh-y, we have songs that are dance-y, and we have songs that are just a chill vibe.”

Track three has this all, and more.

‘I Need More Than This’ fuses Brit-pop with the dance-metal experimentations of Northlane’s Obsidian; however, this captivating coalescence functions as the magnificent mask ‘Protection are wielding in a delightful disguise. Seconds after the halfway point of the track, a Massive Attack inspired sampling of their enigmatic single ‘Angel’ invades the song beyond eloquently. Then, to conclude, an eruption merging all of these dazzling features in an adrenaline-fuelled rave of artistic integrity. Arguably, there has never been a more suiting song title to such an unrestrained magical merging of genres.

‘Fire’ captures every exploration of the GALORE EP faultlessly into its near three-and-a-half minutes. The Prodigy, if you are paying attention, here is the band you need to know and invite on a global assault tour. The Jordan Fish expertise emerge with a youth choir chanting “F-I-R-E, are you with me?” Before a tsunami of modern-metalcore breakdowns drown the listeners in calamitous rhapsody. “We want this to be colourful…” At this juncture, House Of Protection have undeniably gone above that spectrum, the duo is burning the aforementioned box's walls down in flames of multi-coloured grandeur.

Familiar readers may remember the band debuted this track live on their highly successful East Coast tour supporting Bad Omens and Poppy at the start of the year.

‘Phasing Out’ presents itself faultlessly as an immaculate sequel to ‘Being One’. To a rather peculiar extent, it does have the ambition of Korn’s The Path Of Totality; although, the song does harbour an illustrious articulation comparably.

Closer ‘Slide Away’ emits a near “full circle” sentiment; how?

Imagine an alternative music enthusiast asking to describe House Of Protection. It is conceivably one of the most difficult questions to answer in the space of eight months; the two-piece do not really fall under a genre. Guitarist/vocalist Stephen Harrison and drummer/vocalist Aric Improta do not create music with specific directives; their vision is, as stated, in colour.

So, describe House Of Protection? Play the charismatic composition ‘Slide Away’ and let the inquirer fall under a spellbinding awe.

That is the full circle. This is House Of Protection. Let’s “mesh and exist together in this space”, and transcend boundaries together.

Rating: 9.5/10
Outrun You All is out Friday, May 23rd via Red Bull Records. Pre-order/save here
Review by Will Oakeshott @teenwolfwill