Saturday, May 5, 2012

Album Review: Torche - "Harmonicraft"

I've recently delved into Stoner Rock/ Metal and Sludge Metal, listening to bands like Sleep, High on Fire, Mastodon, The Sword, Electric Wizard and Kylesa, etc. Only last month did I hear of a band called Torche, and their newest album Harmonicraft is the first of their work that I've heard.

I can't think of anything witty or funny to say about this artwork because, honestly, I still have no fucking clue what is happening in it.

Harmonicraft is an album that pops out from the Stoner/Sludge crowd right away. By "pops out" I'm talking about Pop, the genre of music. This release has been dubbed "Stoner Pop", and with good reason. The album contains the swirling, groovy, crushing sound associated with Stoner Metal yet when everything comes together of this album, it does nothing but lift your spirits. Harmonicraft is a bubbly, soaring experience to hear. The vocals are powerful but soft. Steve Brooks' voice is never harsh nor aggressive, and the way it is put into the final mix makes it seem to float on top of everything else. All the instrumentation is superb, with the guitars and bass working away with relatively simple yet powerful riffs. The drums compliment the guitars. They pound away in the most adrenaline pumping parts of the album and groove slowly yet surely in the parts of the album that make you feel like you're floating on a cloud.

Above: Torche. Second from left: My face while listening to this album.

Bomb-Ass Tracks

Walk it Off: A ripping minute and twenty-six seconds, reminiscent of those bearded denim vest wearing rockers in Valient Thorr. With a catchy-as-all-Hell intro and a solo that makes you want to just thrash your entire damn body around, the second song off of Harmonicraft is killer.

Snakes are Charmed: DAT ECHO. DEM RIFFS.

Harmonicraft: The title track sounds exactly like the way it's named. Harmonicraft is the three minute and fifteen second score to a high tech sci-fi starship shooting at warp speed through the universe.

Overall Score

8/10

Torche's Harmonicraft is a beautiful album made out of puppies, unicorns and rainbows. I'd have to say it makes great summer driving music. Try it out sometime.

That's all for now, folks. Keep being Awesome.


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