Review: Resonance Room - 'Untouchable Failure'

RESONANCEROOM 

'Untouchable Failure' 

MYKINGDOM MUSIC 

Italian goth metal outfit Resonance Room's second full-length album 'Untouchable Failure' will appeal to those who enjoy the heavy guitars of acts like Porcupine Tree, the misery of Katatonia, the progressive elements of Anathema and the dark style of Moonspell. It's a formula that should give them a worldwide appeal. Especially when it is executed to such a high degree, as is the case here.

The band flit back and forth between memorable but scathing guitar riffs and thick melodic interludes with great ease, evoking a doomier take on Katatonia's 'Great Cold Distance' which shows a strong development since the band's début 'Unspoken'.

the songs which give the album its backbone; 'The Great Insomnia', 'So Precious', 'Naivety And Oblivion' and 'Faded' all resonate (pardon the pun) with melancholic angst as the clean vocals interact in an almost ethereal way with the heaviness of the guitars before fading into the more ambient and progressive sections where they can really shine. Though it is the album's penultimate track, acoustic-led 'Prometheus' that provides a progressive-orientated jewel in the crown for the band.

However the likes of 'Cages Of Dust' and 'Outside The Maze' are perhaps the most glaring examples of when the band don't quite get things right. Though they are both excellently performed, and feature strong bass and vocals in particular, they just never quite click in the same way as the other songs do.

In terms of production this album is pretty much spot on aside from a little too much treble on the guitars that detract from the bottom end of the mix. But this is a small niggling point on a wonderfully executed album that works well both in terms of song-writing and performance.

This is a very strong offering that should have plenty of critics and fans sit up and take notice. If they can spread their live reputation outside of their native borders, there is no reason why this album shouldn't provide a solid Platform from which the band can launch from.

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