6 Song Demo
Razorcake:
When I first picked this outta the stack, I had to scratch my head. Is this a DVD? No, it's a CD packaged in a DVD case. Must have been a Crazy Eddie sale at Blockbuster. But the songs are what matter. This five-piece outfit of young upstarts fry up some nice dual guitar riffs and drums that will have you reaching for the Advil—but with a smile. "Auctionary Blindness" has the singer thrashing against art and its commercialism—"here's another one to hang in your gallery of dead-skin masterpieces." "450Volts" surges forward with lines like, "We send volts through the weapons in our wallets that are soaked in the blood of workers a world away." If you ever liked Embrace or Rites of Spring pick this up—there's something here for you. Resonance puts their fists through YMCA basement ceilings so you don't have to. Solid first release from this ........Richmond outfit. –Sean Koepenick (Self-released)
Split W/ Permanent
Diatribe Inc:

Resonance/ Permanent- split 7"

Collapse Records

There has to be something in the water supply in Richmond. The city keeps cranking out some of the best musical outfits known to man and Resonance is the newest addition to the city's long punk rock lineage. "Eyes Immune" kicks it off with fast melodic punk with attitude and heart galore, and a sing along part that that makes you want to get up off the couch and knock shit over. Their second song, 'Pilot Flame' carries on in the same vein, but tones down the energy just a bit and cranks up the harmony to maximum capacity. The vocals are brash and intelligent and the music cohesive and tight.  I can tell that they are going to be one of my favorite bands in short order.  Permanent on the other hand eschew the toned down post hardcore sound and play balls to the wall, traditional hardcore. Heavy handed guitars and breakneck drum rolls lead the onslaught of furious abandon from the song 'Standing' and into their final song 'Everything Ending'. Funny how the album ends with that song title…was that on purpose? All in all, they sound like a band you could have heard in the late eighties with a singer that sounds a bit like a slightly less pissed off Henry Rollins. This is a varied and exciting split record and while the Resonance side of the album captures more of my heart, I will be eagerly awaiting more music from both bands.          CS

Punknews.org:

In terms of melodic hardcore splits from this year, it's tough to top the delicious slab of Lifetime / Kid Dynamite tributing teamwork found on Shook Ones and Easel's effort from 2007's start. However, RVA representatives Resonance and Permanent certainly come close with a four-song 7" here.

Resonance is on Side A and, much like Shook Ones, nails the Kid Dynamite sound to a 'T.' However, where they make their separation is in their unfathomable earnestness -- their vocalist is rough, rugged and sometimes out of key, but his constant, strained scream jumps off the wax as much as it possibly can, making it clear he's giving his all. In addition, Resonance have some of the best lyrics in the genre around, exhibiting personal crises in elaborate and impressive form, often through graphic metaphors and the occasional tick of alliteration. They also mix up the tempos frequently and don't always play at top-flight speeds. Their first song, "Eyes Immune" is a stupidly fun sing-along, but the band really hit their stride with the incredible and emotional "Pilot Flame." Resonance sound emphatically sincere in their songs to begin with, but they really spill their guts here, and you'll feel your heart sink to your stomach when they strike some chords near the end for a visceral tone that sounds like a cross between Dear You-era Jawbreaker and Fairweather's If They Move...Kill Them. It's rather fantastic.

With Side B, Permanent offer two new songs that really show they're coming into their own. Admittedly, by coincidence or not they sound more like Sinking Ships than ever, while their full-length only vaguely recalled them at points -- compare their first song here, "Standing," to the first song on SS's recent 7" ("Irish Wristwatch"), and you'll see what I mean. However, this more filled-out injection of Stay Gold-style melody in their songs has done them wonders, and enables their pair of tunes to have some strong dynamics. Anyone who may have been bored by Sink|Swim should find these songs much more arresting.

For all the blatant similarities contained within, this is a very good split release. Hopefully the reunited Resonance keeps it together long enough to eventually serve up a new full-length (along with the 12" retrospective due out), while Permanent's improved songwriting has them shaping up to write a great album themselves.

Transfuse LP

The New Scheme:
It’s hard not to consider Resonance just another
melodic hardcore revival, even though this was recorded
years ago, during its heyday. They play classic, cut-time
melodic hardcore with gruff, but on-key vocals. If you’re
really a connoisseur; it is more similar to Fastbreak or
Turning Point than Lifetime—though there is plenty of
that as well. It feels really similar to Shook Ones as well,
especially vocally. There is rarely a time that I’m not in
the mood for this style of music, even after all these
years. But the amount of time it can hold my interest is
way shorter. Resonance didn’t test my patience at any
point. The songs are to-the-point and the recording
tinnier than more recent bands, but even that is more
refreshing than it is a hinderance.
There is a certain, specific audience for this style
of hardcore, which I happen to fall right into. But even
casual observers will hear the merits of this right away.
They put this LP out to document what they had already
completed years ago, and I’m glad they did. [Anderson]

Punknews.org:  
Personally, I can't stand bands that sound like Kid Dynamite but aren't Kid Dynamite, so my stubborn, fanboy ass was reluctant to pick up Resonance's Transfuse after numerous said comparisons in the past. Though, with some obvious nods to the band and the preceding and possibly more influential Lifetime, Resonance's sound is just as rooted in the late ..80s D.C. scene as New Jersey; in fact, between the perfectly imperfect nature of the unstable shouts to off-key singing and the shifty major chords (with that slight arpeggio…Dan Yemin knows what I mean), this record sounds like Embrace got back together and did a Kid Dynamite cover album. So have I found a band that's challenged my own standards? Yes.

What? They broke up? Figures…

Well, anyways. "Statues" opens with a rhythmically bouncy, Kid Dynamite-esque backbeat, but expecting Jason Shevchuk's bitter "fuck you"s would be wrong. Instead, a style that moves between a more raw-sounding Ian Mackaye and Ari Katz shares introspective issues and climaxes with "I find myself moving to the beat of clock sounds" over a descending guitar harmony.

Though the majority of the ten songs are at full speed, the thundering tom syncopation of "A Surfacing History" segues into a mid-tempo narrative with a very unique breakdown: lock-step chord hits with one of the catchiest leads on the album filling the spaces. Here, the pleasantly off-key vocals really hit the spot, concluding with "the bruise has healed, but the sadness stays." "Machinery Outweighed," if you remember the opening paragraph, sounds like Embrace covering Kid Dynamite; the way the vocalist holds notes are reminiscent to Ian Mackaye with how they break, and I swear that the breakdown was ripped right off Kid Dynamite's self-titled album. I checked, though: It's not!

The single notes that haunt the first verse of "Radiant Chains" provides an epic feel to the closer, but it eventually speeds up and pummels its way through catchy choruses and dual screams. Around this time I reflected upon the album as a whole and found myself reaching for the first song to experience it all over again.

Transfuse is a very impressive and honest full-length that leaves me wanting more, but will result in inevitable, unfulfilled cravings; whatever the members plan for future endeavors will certainly have my attention.

Collective Zine:
I raised an eyebrow at being sent a vinyl LP to review all the way from the States, what with the extreme postage. I was going to be a bit disheartened for the band if it ended up getting a shitty review. Fortunately, this LP is super. Resonance play dynamite melodic hardcore of the kind that is perhaps less in fashion at the moment. It has elements of stuff like Gorilla Biscuits but filters it through slightly more modern leanings via Lifetime, Hot Water Music and then throws in the hidden extra element that stops a band with such a sound from sounding dated. Is it the furious energy? The roaring production? Well, it's partly those but it is the decidedly emotional vocals are the biggest draw for me, spilled out desperately and sometimes more optimistically, surely taking influence from Revolution Summer bands, which is a top thing as far as I am concerned. The band clearly has bucket-loads of passion and this really makes them stand out from a crowd of bands that have sounded like this in the past 10+ years. Despite having such old faithful comparisons to fall back on as those, this does genuinely sound fresh and exciting. I should note that the band had a split release with Permanent, who they also fit very well with.

I massively recommend this to anyone who enjoys traditional melodic hardcore, as it is as good a take on the style I have heard since, jeez, I have no idea... Check it out!  -Andy Malcolm

Scene Point Blank
Now defunct Virginia Beach outfit Resonance sees their two demos put to wax on this 12" affair. Transfuse boasts ten tracks of hardcore that is as potent as it is tenuous.

On first listen, the ten songs that compile this recording may appear to be nothing more than standard fare melodic hardcore. However, after repeated spins, the diversity of the sound begins to showcase itself to the listener. Sure, Resonance's sound is rooted in the melodic sounds of Lifetime, but there is more to it that just that. The band incorporates more melody and traditional emo sounds of Embrace - the result is comparable to the underrated work In Pieces. Vocally, Jimmy Held recalls Thursday's Geoff Rickly with his raspy and emotive yells.

Transfuse is a solid record and a nostalgic piece of wax for those who enjoyed the band while they were around. For those who might have missed out, this is a good band to look into if you're into new wave of melodic hardcore - Shook Ones, The Ergs, Sinking Ships.