Torche – Harmonicraft

Whether consciously or not, Torche have always been a group famed for realising a crazed, delicate balance between doom metal, grunge and power pop. Their sound is a culmination of the band's Sonic Youth influences and penchant for thick, textured guitars. 

Harmonicraft is an extension of their curve away from metal as much as possible in recent releases, so if you were one of the odd ones who didn't understand the Foo Fighters comparisons spouted over their popular Meanderthal, the impossibly cleaner vocals on these new songs should fix that dubiety immediately.

The record opens with surges of psychedelic riffs thundering back and forth that are unquestionably impressive, and Torche are at their fleeting best when the drums are urgent and lashing, like on the stand-out Walk It Off. It's the slowing of pace in the latter half of the album however that should have brought a heavy stoner contrast. Instead, their light efforts don't uphold the early promise.