Labels: Robotic Empire
Review by: Kunal Nandi
The thing is, I want my cake AND eat it. I want full-on, skull-crushing, planet-smashing heaviness, but I also want choruses sweet enough to summon John Lennon from beyond the grave. Torche are that cake, with a cherry on top, or something.
Anyone familiar with vocalist / guitarist Steve Brooks’ previous band Floor will probably know what to expect. They come on with a similar mindset to a band like, say, Goatsnake, in that the music is nasty but the vocals are sweet, but Torche are the far purer proposition, relying less on being all Sabbath-y with their heaviness, and just having monumental slabs of dumbass harmony that are satisfying in their simplicity yet intelligent in their approach. Another totally bang-up job from Mark Nikolich at Atomic Audio Studios means that the heaviness is bloated, yet still pinpoint accurate enough to allow some room for more experimentation than you might expect from a band like Floor. Most songs have a keening wash of treated guitars over the top that expand the band’s sonic palette, and you have moments like the intangible, incongruous spoken word on “Fuck Addict”, the echoing vocal on “Erase”, the fire and brimstone shitstorm of the ironically titled “Safe” “” all of these add that much-needed extra dimension to the music. I’d say that the one mis-step would be when they go all out for excess on the final epic track. It’s drawn out way too long, stretching that simple melody over too wide an expanse, although it’s still an ace song at the end of the day. Imagine Eyehategod if they’d done happy pills instead of the skag, or some other facile “band on drug” simile.
So, while it’s a damn shame that Floor split, at least we more or less have their continuation in Torche, as well as Dove, another excellent band featuring ex-members. This is an absolutely joyous, cleansing experience. Just how it should be.