Review
Torche
Harmonicraft

Torche is back with their third official LP (Songs For Singles is officially an EP as far as the band is concerned) and Harmonicraft might be the most uplifting album to come from a metal background (at least I would consider a band with a pedigree featuring members of the almighty Floor, Cavity, etc. to be at least metal influenced) in as long as I can remember; this record contains all the soaring melodies that seemed fully realized on their previous LP, Meanderthal, while adding some new elements (no doubt in due in part to the addition of a new guitarist) to their repertoire.

Popping off one hell of a track to kick the album off, Torche waste no time in getting right to the heart of the matter with the triumphant sounds of “Letting Go” (which should probably be called something more akin to the first taste of an addictingly sweet record) , and the idea that the song’s whole being is more or less the same infectious beat, guitars, and harmonized vocals just slips your mind as you hit repeat over and over again; when the band hit you with the outrageous hook of “Kicking” (listen to it and you’ll hear the monster hook if you are not deaf), you kind of get the idea that they just might be the poppy-est heavy band in existence. “Reverse Inverted” is the next song that really cooks while also being one of the tracks that hearkens back to their older material as well as looks to something new with the most blues-y riff that has ever emanated from a Torche guitar, and while there is an excellent lead to be heard in “Snakes Are Charmed” and the vocal harmony in “Sky Trials” is pretty cool, I start to get the feeling that there are awesome parts scattered throughout the album without too much in the way of getting you to snap to attention for the duration of a whole song (then again, Harmonicraft feels like a solid album that just blazes by and is over before you know it) until the almost ballad, “Solitary Traveler”, snaps off something new and different.

After listening to Harmonicraft a whole bunch, there are some obvious stand out tracks; but I have to say that there is a also several that I do skip over because they really do not hit me at all nor seem memorable in any way and maybe that is the pin to pop this balloon for Torche this album, and yet, the four or five awesome songs on here are good enough to carry the filler and make this a good record to own.