It’s a tight little package of anthemic hook and heft that moves with even more purpose than 2012’s Harmonicraft.
Restarter is remarkably composed and perfectly balanced, demonstrating Torche's ability to continually refine their doom-pop/melodic hard rock approach.
After seeming so eager to capitalize on their pop underpinnings in recent years, Torche arrive on Restarter, their Relapse debut, as harsh, heavy and mean as they have been in nearly a decade.
Restarter, for all its excellence, is still overcast by the monolithic shadow of Harmonicraft.
Torche goes deeper on Restarter, but they also round off some of the weird edges that make them such an interesting band.
Whether Torche should have stuck their ground and faced accusations of standing still, or whether they should have ploughed forward and risked alienating their hard-earned, and still growing, fanbase, is up to you, but it’s clear that something doesn’t quite gel on Restarter.
Sure, it gets kinda repetitive, but Torche's brand of melodic sludge metal is nothing if not fist-pumpingly, chest-beatingly, larynx-shreddingly entertaining. My main point of interest with this group are the vocals, which in their inflection and melodic turns remind me of Richard "Sexy Sneer" Butler of seminal, carnality-obsessed 70s/80s UK rock band, The Psychedelic Furs. Go on, give them a listen in tandem. It's uncanny I tells ya.
Standout tracks: Loose Men, Restarter, ... read more