House Of Spirits

Dortmund, Germany's House of Spirits was launched in 1994 by former Jester's March members Olaf Bilic (vocals) and Martin Hirsch (bass), along with guitarist Uwe Baltrusch (ex-Mekong Delta) and journeyman drummer Jörg Michael (Rage, Stratovarius, Running Wild, etc.). Their debut album, Turn of the Tide, emerged later the same year and fared quite inauspiciously, in purely commercial terms, but has since been embraced by fans of progressive metal as a momentous release for the genre (reminiscent of Queensrÿche during their Operation: Mindcrime glory). Unfortunately, disagreements with their management and record company, Gun Records, compounded with Baltrusch's departure, led to the House of Spirits' breakup in 1996. But when an old demo found its way into the offices of Germany's own Century Media, the band members were persuaded to revive House of Spirits (with Benjamin Schrippritt stepping up on guitar) and record a second, not quite as acclaimed, album in 1999's Psychosphere.