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Torche – Restarter (Relapse)

April 20, 2015 by A.S. Van Dorston

Torche - Restarter (Relapse, 2015)Steve Brook’s love affair with heavy fuzz and E-bombs goes way back to 1992 when he formed Floor. He formed Torche in 2004, and had solidified a bona fide cult following by their second album, Meanderthal (2008). Harmonicraft (2012) took a more precise and overtly melodic approach with extra-abbreviated song lengths. It raised some eyebrows, with some comparing it to Baroness‘ foray into indie rock. I loved it. It was still heavy as hell, and the procession of hooky songs seemed to gain momentum as if it were winding up to start up a cyclone, Tasmanian Devil style.

After Brooks reunited Floor a couple years ago and put out the slow, doomy but excellent Oblation (2014), I thought he would then feel Torche is wide open to take things further out into pop territories. Instead, Restarter, as the title suggests, is more of a retreat to the band’s original sound, sludge pop 1.0, a bit more slow and lumbering compared to the agile blasts on Harmonicraft. Initially I felt that was kind of unnecessary, as Oblation already scratched that retro itch.  It took a couple months of repeated listens, but my disappointed receded as the new songs still retain strong melodies. “Annihilation Affair” is definitely punishing. While heavy is not difficult these days, with just a few turns of the knobs, good songwriting and well-placed dynamics are not so easily achieved. Torche pulls it off, breaking the bridge into pieces with a noisy freakout, then returning more triumphantly anthemic than ever on “Bishop In Arms.” “Minions” holds up the elevated quality despite being a longish plod. There is a bit of a nod to their previous album when they blast through “Loose Men,” “Undone” and “Blasted” in just 6:42.

While sludge, doom and Melvins remain in their musical DNA, there are certainly hints of the heavier-end of post-punk and indie in “No Servants,” with hints of Fugazi and Helmet. The hypnotic title track closes out the album with 8:40 of dirgey but propulsive apocalyptic groove worthy of early Killing Joke mixed with Band Of Susans. Restarter doesn’t reinvent Torche so much as solidify the reasons why their immense signature sound has made them legends. Basically, if you like one Torche album, you most likely need all of them. While this is their fourth full-length, don’t forget about the In Return (2007) and Songs For Singles (2010) EPs. Played on appropriately bass-enabled speakers, you’ll have a solid 3:05:49 of guaranteed wall-shaking joy.

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