REVIEW: Roman Candle - Unadulterated
- Mia Gailey
- 57 minutes ago
- 3 min read
There’s a particular kind of tension that only exists in bands who still feel like they have something to prove—not in a performative sense, but in the way every note sounds like it’s being dragged out of them in real time. That’s exactly where ROMAN CANDLE operate on this full-length: a record that doesn’t just document growth, but captures the friction it took to get there.
Emerging from Las Vegas’ desert underground, the four-piece have always leaned into emotional extremity, but here it feels more controlled, more intentional. Not cleaner—never that—but sharpened. Where earlier material like Discount Fireworks thrived on volatility, this album feels like it understands when to hold back just enough to make the impact land harder.
Opening track Blasphemous Act sets the tone with a slow, uneasy burn before rupturing into something far more urgent. It’s a statement of purpose: restraint as a weapon. That sense of push-and-pull runs throughout the record, particularly on This Band Has Led Me To Places I Wouldn’t Go With A Gun, where the band weaponise repetition and pacing to create a suffocating emotional loop. It’s not just heavy—it’s exhausting in a way that feels deliberate.
Can We Watch Something Happy? stands as one of the album’s defining moments, and not just because of its backstory. Pipe Ferrari’s vocal performance here feels less like delivery and more like confrontation, teetering between collapse and control. There’s a rawness that never tips into self-indulgence; instead, it feels grounded, painfully specific. That specificity is what gives the band their weight—these aren’t abstract emotions, they’re lived-in, named, and impossible to ignore.
Musically, the band thrives in contrast. Jonas Vece’s guitar work shifts between serrated chaos and unexpectedly delicate passages, often within the same track. Fire In The Night Sky Forever is a prime example, balancing angular aggression with moments that almost feel reflective, like the calm after something irreversible has already happened. Meanwhile, the rhythm section—Sergio Lopez and Alex Dupuis—anchor everything with a sense of physicality that keeps the songs from drifting. There’s heft here, but it never feels static.
Tracks like Bite Harder Than You Bleed and Nothing Is Original lean further into the band’s hardcore influences, delivering some of the record’s most immediate moments. But even at their most direct, there’s an undercurrent of unease that stops things from feeling straightforward. It’s this refusal to settle that makes the album compelling—it’s constantly shifting, never letting you sit comfortably for too long.
The back half of the record leans more introspective, without losing intensity. My Silence Costs More Than You Can Afford and For Once My Hands Are Still trade explosive catharsis for something quieter but no less heavy. These tracks feel like aftermath—what’s left when the initial emotional surge has burned out, leaving something colder and harder to process.
Closing track How To Be Considered When You’re Not In The Room feels less like resolution and more like acceptance of ambiguity. It doesn’t tie things up neatly, and that’s the point. The album isn’t interested in clean endings; it’s interested in honesty, even when that honesty is unresolved.
What makes this record stand out isn’t just its intensity, but its sense of purpose. There’s a clarity to what ROMAN CANDLE are trying to do, even when the music itself feels chaotic. Every moment feels earned, every shift intentional. It’s a record that understands the power of restraint as much as release, and uses both to devastating effect. At twelve tracks, it never overstays its welcome, but it leaves a lasting imprint. This is a band stepping fully into their identity—not refining the edges away, but sharpening them.
Score: 7/10
Unadulterated will be released on 24th April 2026 via Sumerian Records.
Words: Mia Gailey
Photos: Roman Candle
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