Customer Reviews

Meanderthal

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The problem with a lot of rock and punk music is that all-too-often there isn't enough backing the standard "catchiness" and energy to make it hold up over repeated listens. And especially for those of us headphone-listeners, such music seems flat and lacking texture.

For sludge/drone/"post"-metal (there's far too many names for this loose confederation of bands), the problem is very much the opposite. For all the carefully-crafted texture, soundscapes and melodies, time/signature changes and complex drum-work there isn't much of the music that is instantly accessible - no melodies that are easy to hum along with, no beats that are easy to tap out - and hence the genre toils in obscurity.

If only there was a band that could combine the strengths of both and hence eliminate their weaknesses... fortunately, TORCHE is to the rescue with their sophomore effort Meanderthal.

Writing almost radio-friendly rock songs and infusing them with the ponderous depth of post-metal and the energy (and brevity) of punk rock, Torche have found a groove that should resonate with a lot of people. This is music that you can play at parties or with a car-full of friends who have never heard of Isis or Pelican or Neurosis (I tried this experiment myself), but also music that you can take home and throw on the home stereo or headphones and also appreciate the details that Torche have ingrained into each one of their songs.

Meanderthal clocks in pretty short, with only one song surpassing the 5-minute mark, and several under the 3-minute mark, but it flows as easily as thirteen cheap beers through a funnel and does about as much damage. "Triumph of Venus" acts as a short, instrumental introduction to the album, but right from the start you can tell that nothing is going to be held back here. It's the topic sentence of the album, and lets you know right up front what's in store: fast-paced Sabbath-inspired tunes that blend the highs and lows of sludgy metal and stoner rock. Even if the vocals leave something to be desired, you get a good share of creative riffage and murky guitar solos throughout.

Meanderthal is a marked improvement over Torche's first album. The sound is cleaner and more refined, yet it still somehow contains the raw heaviness expected from this band. Like that crunch in the self-titled track; drop-F tuning, or whatever it is they did there. Overall, it's a happy brand of doom-laced sludge with a dash of pop, that instead of making you want to simply crawl in a hole and die, may make you want to pilot a hand-glider over a stretch of desert in the American southwest, and culminate the experience by slamming full speed into the side of a cliff, dying thusly. Recommended for fans of early Black Sabbath, Queens of the Stone Age, Isis, etc.

Torche's follow up to their self-titled debut is a mighty monolith of pop melodies caked over-top a sludge powered rocket engine hurtling itself into the sun. This is some mighty, mighty, mighty awesome music, whatever your musical sensibilities may be, because, as opposed to other "doom metal" acts, the music Torche craft on this album retain a sense of happiness, like a blissful smile painted on the face of a person lost in a pair of headphones. The whole of this album has a huge potential for radio play, it is that accessible. As stated above, it seems similiar to the Foo Fighters at times, just vastly contorted, as if it were being transmitted from some rock radio station in a different dimension where stoners rule as the status quo.
My only complaints about this album are the sometimes haphazard transitions between songs, and it's meager length (I can't get enough, I fear that my copy will be ruined from being overplayed). Besides those relatively small gripes, Meanderthal is an excellent album that anyone who likes rock music at all will be able to appreciate.

I had to stop listening to this album on the first few attempts. The question `what the f**k?' was constantly ringing through my head, along with shifting enjoyment and cringing. And really, numerous listens later, I still don't really know. "Meanderthal" is some kind of pop-sludge-mainstream rock-doom-prog metal thing. And I'm really unsure what to think of it all.

Torche's EP "In Return" was all I had previously sampled, and it was good, fuzzy stoner metal with some doom and shoegaze influences. "Meanderthal" is a whole new sound. The first two tracks are immediate examples of this, with the opener "Triumph of Venus" drifting into cheesy prog-metal, masturbatory guitar noodling, whizzing up and down an ascending scale pattern. It's terribly cliched and just completely bores me. Then "Grenades" comes in with an insipid guitar hook, followed by some rank vocal harmonies that sound ripped from a throwaway North American emo-rock band. But then, once I picked up the confidence to go beyond track two, I found some real enjoyment.

There are times when the odd pop-stoner sound works. This is most notable with "Across The Shields", which builds to an absolute blast of a finale - a booming happy-sounding riff thunders in, the vocal harmonies actually work, and it's all fitting into place. It's fun stoner metal. I bob my head along with a smile. This song is what every song on "Meanderthal" should be doing, yet only a small few accomplish.

I understand that the stoner/doom genre is quite inaccessible for many. There is room for a band from the genre to bring in a more immediate and catchy sound, and at times "Meanderthal" achieves this. But there is too much variation. Often I can both enjoy and deeply loathe moments within the same song. So, fans of stoner/doom expecting more of "In Return" should approach with caution. Those who want a more catchy heaviness might want to give it a try.

These guys are decent live, have relatively solid chemistry, and can certainly play. Only very technically advanced musicians could come up with the arrangements on this and the other two Torche releases. Unfortunately, Torche is also very monotonous and the songs aren't particularly good. You can believe all the raves if you want, but I say there are too many other good bands in this genre to bother.

I cant believe how good this band and this album are. I havent even heard any of their other stuff yet, because I'm still letting "Meanderthal" sink in... but I CAN tell you that I saw them live last night and they were as good in person as they were on stage.

What a weirdly likeable band: in them you can hear Helmet, the Foo Fighters, standard metal, standard punk, and none of those things at the same time.

These guys deserve to be huge.

I'm a fan of this record, at the very least, for life.

This is probably one of my top 5 favorite albums. Torche is a band that continues to impress me more every time I listen to them. The key word for this album is MASSIVE. Sure, some times the album sounds like something you might hear at Lollapalooza, but that does nothing to diminish the sheer heaviness of the songs. Even some of the more pop-oriented songs like Healer and Across the Shields still have an underlying stoner sound to them. To really get the full effect of this album you need to blast it through some big speakers or listen to it with some really nice headphones to truly get an understanding of the colossal heaviness that is Meanderthal.

To point out the best songs of this album would be a waste of time because this is one of those albums that can be played through all the way, however, I will point out that my personal favorites are the opening track, Triumph of Venus, which begins with a cool vocal harmony thing before launching into a pummeling riff that breaks into some pure awesome guitar wizardry, and Grenades which is a poppy sounding song, but it has a really heavy verse and a cool guitar solo.

I'm a huge fan of Steve Brooks, both his guitar playing and his singing style, so I might be a little biased, but anyone who likes the other stuff Torche has done, or who are fans of Steve's previous band Floor, should check this album out, because it is in my opinion the best thing that Steve has ever been involved in. One last thing, make sure to buy the actual physical CD of Meanderthal, don't just download it, becaue Torche have done a superb job with the packaging and the artwork. One minor complaint is that I wish they had printed the lyrics, because its ofetn really hard to make out what Steve is singing.

I would ESPECIALLY recommend this album to anyone who enjoys 90s alternative rock.

Seriously, when I first heard this album, I immediately noticed the '90s indie pop influence on Across the Shields, and the distinct grunge sounding chord progression on Sundown (think of the band Cell). The energy of Without a Sound and Fat Waves is really reminiscent to that of the band Helmet. And the singer's voice reminds me of Jerry DiRenzo of Cell.

This really is a great album. It combines pop-esque, grunge/punk sounding vocals with sludge/stoner metal rhythms, packing an overall SOLID Alternative rock punch!

Yeah, its a mixed variety of underground sounds. I'd say it's more or less alternative rock.

Rock on!

Heavy metal without the excess. Songs are short and to the point. A good record.

I go this CD a few days ago and at first I didn't think much of it. But after a few spins I really love this album. Call it sludgy pop, call it stoner metal or I don't know or even care how to describe the genre, this is just a great piece of music and I am happy I checked them out. Great band, great album.