Roman Candle – Unadulterated
Release Date: 24th April 2026
Label: Sumerian Records
In a period when hardcore music is hitting the mainstream, with giants like Turnstile and Knocked Loose taking all the plaudits, the scene is still being blessed by a new generation. Roman Candle’s debut album Unadulterated combines the current trends of nostalgia and genre fusing. The album bridges a 4-year gap between the release of their EP Discount Fireworks, incorporating emo, hardcore, punk, screamo and thrash metal. ‘Blasphemous Act’, a powerful opener, sets the tone for an album that starts slow and explodes into the hard hitting record the title promises.
The group’s blend of modern hardcore with guitars chugging like it’s 2009, Roman Candle are equally a throwback as much as they are part of the new wave of hardcore bands. Screeching and rumbling guitar riffs that compliment Piper Ferrari’s vocals, maintaining a sound rooted in 2000s emo and screamo. The album is a monument to the previous 4-years since their EP, highlighting a period of personal struggle and development. ‘On Second Thought Maybe Gaslighting Is Real’, a reference to their EP, can be heard as a conversation between Ferrari and his past self as she howls, “Will it Always Be Like This?”.
Vocalist Ferrari, in conversation with Rolling Stone, “I wanted this album to be angry. I wanted it to be a little more fun and in-your-face”, providing a 31-minute performance with guttural screams throughout that delivers on her desire for the record. In violent but controlled rage, lyrics like “To Watch You Burn, Is to Be Reborn”, and “Spite Is the Only Thing That Fuels Me”, the message is clear and the album provides an outlet for the young but experienced quartet to vent. Brief respite is offered only in the form of the ominously spoken “For Once My Hands Are Still”, the album’s emotionally tumultuous journey is presented within the remainder of the unrelenting songs.
Unadulterated is a title that creates an expectation for the album that is met with unapologetic force and velocity. Is it perfect? No, and it’s not supposed to be.
Roman Candle delivers an album that is chaotic, heavy and raw. It’s a record with enticing and catchy hooks scattered within, that unravel into destructive breakdowns. Tracks like ‘Lady Lazarus’, ‘Fire In The Night Sky Forever’ and the closing ‘How To Be Considered When You’re Not In The Room’, are highlights to draw from an impressive debut.
Words by Luke Wain