Better late than never, right? I mean, how can I put an album on my “best of 2008“ list and not actually give it a proper (sort of) review? Anyhow, last April the Miami based sludge/stoner pop-metal band Torche released their second full-length album Meanderthal (which was produced by Converge’s Kurt Ballou) but I didn’t actually hear it until the summer. Whatever. So the band features ex-members of bands like Floor and Tunes For Bears To Dance To) and has a sound that I can only compare to Billy Corgan and Justin Timberlake making love in the front row of a concert opened by Lightning Bolt and headlined by Isis. Basically, you’d think that Meanderthal would sound like a complete cluster of disparate elements that should be totally wack, but it is remarkably tight and cohesive from start to finish. There are doses of gooey sludgy riffage, frenzied full-throttle noise-rock fury, and soaring atmospheric passages all anchored by a ridiculously solid rhythm section, searing guitar histrionics reminiscent of Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins in tone and boiling point, and harmony vocals. The songs are short and action-packed so Meanderthal seems to be over almost before it began. I know this because I’ve played it over and over multiple times. The weirdest thing about Meanderthal is (however) how incredibly melodic many of the songs are. It is strange and almost unsettling to hear sugary pop hooks alongside the heavy metal onslaught, but it works. Just don’t think this sounds like Poison, Slaughter, or Motley Crue. It don’t.
MP3 | Torche – Grenades Meanderthal
MP3 | Torche – Sandstorm Meanderthal
Related posts:
This is a bone-crushing LP. Did you hear the 10’‘ they put out before this?