40 Watt Sun is the new band from Warning’s Patrick Walker and if you’re familiar with Warning and Walker’s signature vocal style, you’ve some idea of what to expect. The Inside Room is dour, pallid, melancholic doom for the most part. Though similar to Warning in many respects, 40 Watt Sun is more drone and buzz than their traditionally flavored predecessor. Warm and languid, listening to the Inside Room is kind of like watching a depressed friend cry in their beer. It can come across sad and pathetic, but after a few drinks you might find yourself right there with him, crying about how your dad never came to your baseball games.
There are no real memorable riffs here. The songs meander along with little sense of direction or urgency. There aren’t any dramatic shifts in speed, tone or mood. The music has a warm, pleasant hum and buzzes along slowly. The vocals are what propel the music and Patrick Walker’s voice burnishes the songs with a lustrous sheen of melancholy. His performance is to be lauded, but if you can’t identify with the mood or emotion of the album it just won’t engage your attention. Subtle layering in the music and vocals emerge when it piques your interest and it’s pretty enjoyable when it does but it’s easy to become disinterested after 15 or 20 minutes of the stuff.
The effort is admirable but unlike more riff focused efforts, there are no particular moments that jump out at you. 40 Watt Sun are intent on building a mood, not crushing your with heavy riffs so it’s hard to fault them for not being something they aren’t. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just overwrought emotionally, and when you can’t connect to it on that level it’s just not very interesting.
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I connected with it and it´s overwhelming, just listen to the last 2 tracks…
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 09:42Im with Chuck on this, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 10:00I tried to enjoy this, and I guess it does well enough as background music, but when I try to focus on it I just wind up taking a nap.
Like Chuck said, not bad… just not terribly interesting, either.
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 10:39I love doom metal but this does nothing for me. Too Whinny
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 10:50I think you have to go with a Jesu/late-era-Katatonia frame of mind more than a doom one, to enjoy this…
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 12:21I believe the album is called “The Inside Room”.
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 14:28Really like this. Reminds me of Bob Mould.
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 19:08unlistenable.
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 19:44It’s on of those albums that has gotten ridiculous acclaim. It is a major borefest and it’s great to see some people agree. It sounds like Joan Baez songs slowed down with massive distortion. It goes absolutely nowhere and takes too long to do so.
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 20:34One of the most over-hyped albums of all time.
Frankly i am surprised so many metalheads like this shit.
absolutely did not understand the hype on this. (or a number of other albums that were lauded at one of the other major review sites, for that matter).
pleasant but dull, and whether you paid attention to the lyrics or not, the music was never heart-rending or lush enough to be moving.
for those of you looking to bum out to something, the new Woburn House crushes this
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 22:56you guys do realize that dull is what sells right? even metalheads want catchy music devoid of innovation. why do you think traditional metal is still relatively safe to release, and iron maiden records will still get positive reviews?
on Jan 31st, 2012 at 00:29I don’t know how one gets from 40 Watt Sun to Iron Maiden. My main problem with this album is lack of catchy and a lack of metal tradition.
on Jan 31st, 2012 at 06:59yeah even the latest Maiden (despite its weak spots, still their best since Brave New World imo) smoked this
on Jan 31st, 2012 at 09:19kind of like a doom metal version of Red House Painters. It’s okay. That band wasn’t about riffs either.
on Jan 31st, 2012 at 10:20liking this stuff. BRRRRZZZZZZZZZ
on Jan 31st, 2012 at 11:13Agree with timshel…
on Jan 31st, 2012 at 12:52I dig it.
Chuck said it: the point here is creating a mood and atmosphere, not hooking you up with riffs. If you’re not into droney stuff, you probably won’t like this.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 18:27My #1 from 2011. It’s different, but it had a profound affect on me. The music, lyrics, and vocals all come together to create an overwhelming feeling sadness and loneliness. To me, the album portrays the emotions one feels when a loved one is mentally ill or terminally ill. Don’t know if that was the intention, but it is powerful.
on Feb 9th, 2012 at 11:07