Regarding "The Inside Room," my opinion has jumped each side of the fence countless times. 40 Watt Sun is the proverbial phoenix rising from the ashes of England's Warning and features both Christian Leitch and Patrick Walker of the cult doom group; the instrumental similarities are clear, although there are a few ingredients chemically altering 40 Watt Sun from Warning, if that makes sense. The project concerns itself with the norms of doom metal, yet one will easily notice the dissonant droning relies on the crutch of atmosphere rather than sheer heaviness. 40 Watt Sun still manages to come away with a listenable result that could use a few kinks, because this seems really, really uneventful and boring at times, but I'm also drawn to the group's blessed ambience, which is incredibly captivating when the mood is right.With that being said, "The Inside Room" is fairly uneventful. You pretty much get the fundamental basics of doom metal all rolled up into one package, with all the slow, bruising riffs clocking in at down-tempo signatures and unhurried percussion bobbing away in an apathetic theme of mechanical rhythms. The tempos seldom change between tracks, nor are the songs generally grabbing. The catch? Well, 40 Watt Sun forges an atmosphere that has a grey, bleak ambience to it, and Walker's resonating voice compliments the depressing surrounding excellently, and the overall hybrid appears to be a thing of beautiful sadness. Doctors everywhere in some alternate reality most likely prescribe "The Inside Room" to treat temporary depression instead of antidepressants.
However, I have a very convincing gut feeling that the lyrics and its associated components are the focal point of the album. It's a truth I'm really not fond of, but 40 Watt Sun at least reigns in an acceptable fashion in the eyes of this reviewer, because, unlike the status quo, they make "The Inside Room" work in the emotional spectrum to a degree often dropped. I'm not really sure if the overall demeanor is the highlight of the record or not, but it is certainly a core part of 40 Watt Sun's manifesto, and an essential part of the group's postulate. Not unlike most doom bands, each track (excluding "Between Times") plays over or just under ten minutes in length, so there's a lot of doom to delivered, and if you want it, you'll get it.
40 Watt Sun can be genuinely boring under the misfortunate side of the album's circumstances, but the uneventful characteristics occasionally illuminate with the care and power of Walker's perceptual vocals and lyrics. As I said, the album is highly emotional and geared toward atmospheric resolutions instead of shearing doom metal. The ending equation is a mixed bag, really; it's a perfectly listenable album which frequently tips into banal territory and backfiring emotive nonsense. Maybe you'll enjoy this if you like Warning, but let's just hope "The Inside Room" can spread to its target audience and emit its powers to the appropriate crowd.