RESIN
Hmmm, Resin...another alternative style band to review and my first thought was "Rick, you must be getting old and stuck in your ways", because I just don't see what all the fuss is about. I then thought "but Rick, you listen to a HUGE variety of music, so you're not stuck in your ways". Therefore, the upshot is, I don't like Resin and I don't rate them, sorry guys. This debut album is being re-released/rebooted after initially coming out at the tail end of 2012 (why, I have no idea) and all the research I've done and reviews read see Resin as a fantastic band that supply haunting, melancholic grunge (ugh, that horrible word) with 'Embrace The Fall' being more than an excellent debut. Album opener 'Entropy' actually had me sitting up very quickly because this is a cracking track. I could almost hear Ozzy fronted Sabbath playing this and I was duly looking forward to the rest of the album, only to be unfortunately fed a further eight tracks of monotonous dirge, with some pretty awful singing. How a band can impress me, in all departments, with one song and then monumentally fail with everything else is still perplexing. Further listens to the album haven't seen me change my mind and no light bulb has suddenly switched on to something I've initially missed. Every song, even the one I really like, are all played at similar tempos (slowish) and on a couple of occasions I've actually nodded off listening!
Vocalist James Botha is South African and, interestingly, the song 'Beskadig' is completely sung in Afrikaans which is a nice touch, but it doesn't improve the song any. Again, his vocals on 'Entropy' seem very good with the required amount of emotion and power but, from then on, to me at least, he appears completely bored with the whole thing and in a couple of songs, 'Instinct' and 'Clouds', sounds off key. Resin then manage to compound my boredom even more by playing 'Clouds' again, as an acoustic version to close the album. I know I'm not a fan of alternative/grunge/indie etc but had Resin managed to maintain the power, passion and quality of riff and solo that appears on the song 'Entropy' I think I really could have enjoyed 'Embrace The Fall' and that alone gets a score of 4.5. That song will get played and I will keep an eye on developments to see what, if anything, happens with album number two. As for the rest, well if you like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana etc, it might be right up your street but it's not for me.
Vocalist James Botha is South African and, interestingly, the song 'Beskadig' is completely sung in Afrikaans which is a nice touch, but it doesn't improve the song any. Again, his vocals on 'Entropy' seem very good with the required amount of emotion and power but, from then on, to me at least, he appears completely bored with the whole thing and in a couple of songs, 'Instinct' and 'Clouds', sounds off key. Resin then manage to compound my boredom even more by playing 'Clouds' again, as an acoustic version to close the album. I know I'm not a fan of alternative/grunge/indie etc but had Resin managed to maintain the power, passion and quality of riff and solo that appears on the song 'Entropy' I think I really could have enjoyed 'Embrace The Fall' and that alone gets a score of 4.5. That song will get played and I will keep an eye on developments to see what, if anything, happens with album number two. As for the rest, well if you like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana etc, it might be right up your street but it's not for me.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Self-released
Album
EMBRACE THE FALL
Review by Rick Tilley
RUNNING TIME:
42:16
RELEASE DATE:
5th August 2013
TRACK LISTING
1) Entropy
2) Carpe Diem
3) Fallen
4) Fake
5) Instinct
6) Beskadig
7) Clouds
8) Poison
9) Clouds (unplugged)
2) Carpe Diem
3) Fallen
4) Fake
5) Instinct
6) Beskadig
7) Clouds
8) Poison
9) Clouds (unplugged)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
UK
"...monotonous dirge, with some pretty awful singing."
