The Room Colored Charlatan
Primitives


3.5
great

Review

by ExplosiveOranges USER (72 Reviews)
May 27th, 2014 | 19 replies


Release Date: 2014 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Despite some minor flaws, The Room Colored Charlatan's sophomore effort is a great addition to the band's catalog, and manages to stick out a bit compared to their contemporaries.

Since the late 2000’s, there’s been a large number of “Sumeriancore” bands garnering attention around the Internet. Most, if not all of these bands derive their sound primarily from technical deathcore/metalcore bands such as The Faceless, Veil of Maya, and The Contortionist. Consequently, finding a solid, memorable record is made both easier by the simplicity of web browsing, but more difficult by the colossal mass of “djent” bands floating around music-sharing sites. Back in 2012, a central Indiana band by the name of The Room Colored Charlatan released their debut, “Between Mirrors: The Quantum Immortality”, a solid but somewhat uninspired effort. Now, with their sophomore release, The Room Colored Charlatan explores some new territory and creates a more focused release that manages to steer the band in the right direction, though with a few missteps here and there.

Perhaps the most stand-out feature of this album is the inclusion of more progressive and keyboard elements. These help to create an atmosphere and lead up to the riffs rather than rushing in head-on to create a mindless chugfest. Speaking of riffs, the guitar work is surprisingly impressive for a band with only two albums under their belt. The leads help to balance out the chugs and assist in building up the atmosphere alongside the keyboards. The drumming sticks out as well, with a nice mix of traditional progressive/metalcore fills and a tone that doesn’t sound incredibly obnoxious like most bands. Production and mixing work is superb, and manages to sound clear and top-notch without going overboard, which helps to maintain some of the much-needed grit of metal alongside the careful compositions of traditional prog.

Unfortunately, the vocals are uninteresting and sound awfully weak when compared to some of the fairly above average lyrical content. The singer never manages to go beyond a generic death growl and occasional scream every now and then, with clean singing being used very sparingly, which is a shame, since most of the other elements fit in pretty well. And despite the unique keyboard and electronic sections, the band still does sound a little bit too much like The Contortionist or TesseracT, although the track “Atlas Artifact” does stand out a bit.

While not by any means a superb or even excellent album, The Room Colored Charlatan does create a great and immersive experience with their sophomore effort, and it is evident that the band has plenty of potential to stick out from their peers. Hopefully with their next release, they will be able to completely differentiate themselves from the rest of the monotone “djent” scene.



Recent reviews by this author
Every Time I Die Low TeensAsking Alexandria The Black
School of Seven Bells SVIIBTextures Phenotype
Fat White Family Songs for Our MothersIntervals The Shape of Colour
user ratings (34)
3.2
good


Comments:Add a Comment 
ExplosiveOranges
May 27th 2014


4408 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Album stream can be found here:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJADo3GfQas

deathschool
May 27th 2014


28936 Comments


Sweet review. Pos.

Insurrection
May 27th 2014


24844 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

solid review, i thought the vocals were pretty good though.

ExplosiveOranges
May 27th 2014


4408 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I feel like I'm making my reviews shorter than usual, but I still try to put in as much detail as possible. Thanks Ins and deathschool!

deathschool
May 27th 2014


28936 Comments


No problem, mayne!

Devastator
May 28th 2014


4434 Comments


Looking at the artwork I knew it would be a Djent album, will give it a listen.

ArsMoriendi
May 28th 2014


41524 Comments


Just came here to say that that album cover reminds me of a boob.

The red planet is the nipple.

I regret nothing.

deathschool
May 28th 2014


28936 Comments


That's some fucked up titties you're looking at, Ars.

ExplosiveOranges
May 28th 2014


4408 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Jesus, Ars, what kind of boobs have you been looking at?

Insurrection
May 28th 2014


24844 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

now we know ars sucks titties until theyre raw and bleeding

ExplosiveOranges
May 28th 2014


4408 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

That must be painful.

cryptside
June 4th 2014


2406 Comments


DUDE, nice review. You're a very good writer, this sounds like something I should check out.

zaruyache
June 10th 2014


27750 Comments


I just found this and I like it. It's like The Discovery era BoO, which is a good thing. Deathcore that doesn't suck wow.

trilo
August 17th 2014


6613 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

it's more like Exoplanet if you ask me. not as good but still

YakNips
November 19th 2014


20104 Comments


the room colored charlatan

ExplosiveOranges
November 19th 2014


4408 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Ugh Yak, why did you have to bump this thread? Now I have to look at this review and slowly die inside.

Nocturnalize
November 21st 2014


2463 Comments


The review gets er done though

This album is sick

LunaticSoul
February 26th 2015


2418 Comments


heard the new single, seems good shit I'd actually listen to. nice rev

artiswar
July 30th 2019


14747 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

new song with ex-Contortionist singer bangs as expected.



https://theroomcoloredcharlatan.bandcamp.com/track/forest-view



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy