After the recent release of their critically acclaimed album The End is Not the End, House of Heroes have established themselves as one of the most noteworthy alternative rock acts of 2009, both inside and out of the Christian music scene. With The Acoustic End EP, House of Heroes addresses the increasing demand for just one more taste of their talents. Of course, if you waited until March 2009 to buy the full release of The End is Not the End, you already have two-thirds of this EP and The Acoustic End isn't anything new.

The first of three tracks, "New Moon," is a hopeful song of recovery and resilience. The singer feels "the aching of an old bruise healing," but he will "rise where the new moon glows." "New Moon" takes advantage of subdued instrumentation to showcase some amazing vocal harmonies. The vocals counterpointing with the rhythm section during the bridge is particularly catchy.

"Ghost" is a ballad of broken relationships, related in the storytelling format that worked so well for the band on The End is Not the End. "Ghost" explores the effect of our sin on those we love the most and finally, the emptiness it leaves in our souls: "I'm gonna fade away..." It's poignant, if a little depressing.

The EP concludes with an acoustic version of "If" from The End is Not the End. While it lacks the dynamic punch of the full electric version, "If" is well-crafted enough to hold its own even in this stripped-down state. Of course, it's always fun to hear a bare-bones rendition of a song you've come to love. Once again, the acoustic version gives the vocals a chance to shine.

All in all, The Acoustic End EP is disappointingly short, but with two great additions to the House of Heroes song library, and is hopefully enough to hold the fans over until the arrival of the band's Beatles covers EP this summer.

JFH Reader Review: written by Josh Nixon, 4/15/09, for Jesusfreakhideout.com