17 minutes worth of music, only 4 songs, and one of them is even a cover-version really isn't much to judge a band by, but when a genre icon like Paul Sabu takes time off to produce a new and up-coming band from England, one starts to wonder if there is more to this than meets the eye?

'House of Pain' from British hard rock band Scream Arena shows a band with the abilities to write and execute good hard rock tunes influenced by classic hard rock / metal bands like W.A.S.P., Judas Priest, Cinderella, Ratt, Leatherwolf, Def Leppard etc.. Sure they have a long way to go before they can compete with any of the bands mentioned, but the foundations and skills to build on are clearly there, and this is a good beginning.

There are small glimpses of star quality just beneath the surface, and this could be a diamond in the rough, but a lot of nurturing and a good polish is still needed before it has a chance to shine on its own. But they receive my stamp of approval, and I look forward hearing more (and stronger) material from them.