Torche Albums Ranked
Torche is an American heavy metal band from Miami, Florida. The group formed in 2004 and has released five full-length studio albums, four EPs, two split albums, and three singles. They released their fifth full-length studio album, Admission, on July 12, 2019. The group was formed in 2004 by Steve Brooks (ex-Floor), Juan Montoya (ex-Floor, ex-Cavity, ex-Ed Matus Struggle), Jonathan Nuñez, and Rick Smith (who also played in the grindcore bands Shitstorm, Tyranny of Shaw, Adore Miridia, the screamo band Tunes for Bears to Dance To, and punk band Post-Teens). According to MTracks.com: “Their music has a unique, hard-hitting sound that provokes a wide range of emotions, and they have a large fan base throughout the world.” They have toured with Mogwai, Isis, Pelican, Clutch, Black Cobra, Baroness, Jesu, The Sword, Coheed and Cambria, Stinking Lizaveta, Harvey Milk, Boris, and High on Fire. Steve Brooks, however, has said that they don’t consider themselves a metal band. In describing the band’s sound, Smith said in an interview: “To me, it’s mostly a combination of everything we listen to collectively as a band. We take what we like from what we grew up on and use it as creatively as we can. I think the meshing of different sounds comes naturally just because we all have different musical backgrounds yet have a ton of common interests.” In terms of touring, Brooks said Torche is getting more of a young crowd. Here are all of Torche’s albums ranked.
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5. Torche (2005)
“This is great doom/sludge/stoner metal. Heavy, fuzzy guitars provide the main thrust of these quick and catchy songs. I don’t mind the brevity of the songs – they deliver a fierce jab you can hum along to and then move on. When you are feeling like you need an epic doom/sludge/stoner anthem, just groove on the last song fittingly titled “The Last Word” – over nine minutes of spaced out fuzzy bliss!”
4. Admission (2019)
“This album is a really innovative blend of ideas that I can totally get behind, at the very least on paper. The blend of Sludge Metal and Shoegaze that dominate the listening experience here is one of those concepts that I find odd that I haven’t heard before. I’m sure there are other bands, and likely even better ones, that have taken this idea and ran wild with it, but having stumbled across the idea for the first time I think it’s a genius blend. The issues with this album, however, come in the form of how they structure the combination of these two genres and which aspects are intertwined.”
3. Meanderthal (2008)
“Meanderthal is a difficult album to describe. Sludge metal influence, cool, I like sludge. Stoner metal influence, okay, stoner is okay. But they throw this interesting—almost poppy—spin on it: it’s stoner sludge with hooks. Catchy hooks. I’ve usually been the kind of person to dismiss catchy albums as trite pop music, so I’m not too sure why I love this album; it probably has something to do with my affinity for sludge. It’s true that this album is definitely not for everyone; Torche’s fanbase is probably pretty limited but for those who do enjoy it, it’s great.”
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2. Restarter (2015)
“Torche’s most cohesive, simple, sludgy and enjoyable album from start-to-finish. Unlike previous albums that had some killer tracks but too much filler, all 10 tracks (shortest listing to date) are killer cuts. Because Torche decided on a more unified sound, it unfortunately takes a few more spins to really hear each song’s identity and character.”
1. Harmonicraft (2012)
“This album sounds the way the cover looks. Happy. Really happy and uplifting. But wait this is a metal album. This is a sludge metal album and sludge metal isn’t supposed to happy, only power metal sounds happy not sludge metal. Yet this is a sludge metal album that is at times blissfully heavy and times melodic and joyful. That’s right, joyful. The music exudes complete joy and positive energy but is still aggressive at times. Each song is unique and easily distinguishable from the others, which all lead into each other seamlessly creating a “journey” like experience when listening to each song concurrently.”
