Somewhere in the beginning of my review of Torche’s last behemoth (Which you can conveniently read here!), I mentioned something along the lines of wanting to write a review on the title track by itself because it was that good. Well, it seems that the quartet from Miami, Florida have topped themselves yet again and yet again I will refrain from writing a whole piece about how much of a killer track “Admission” is. Even though it’s that awesome. And is totally deserving of a separate post just to talk about that fact. But there are other awesome tracks within to discuss…
But I digress.
If Restarter was their Black Sabbath then consider Admission their Paranoid. Switching from Doom ‘n’ Dirge mode to an album that’s not necessarily sunshiney and bright as much as it just moves and grooves, Torche continue to make sonic strides on each album with riff after riff and glorious verse after glorious verse of heavy rawk.
Torche is one of those bands that, when there’s advance warning of a new record coming for an upcoming year, automatically is entered into our most anticipated list and usually ends up on our year end best of list. With Admission, that motif continues. “From Here” kicks it all off with an aural onslaught that’ll have listeners of Torche’s early work grinning from ear to ear as Steve Brooks’ and Jonathan Nuñez’s guitars synch in perfect bludgeoning harmony. “Submission” shakes the Earth to its’ core thanks to Rick Hernandez’s bass hum and Rick Smith’s pummeling that I’m almost afraid to enter Great Scott on August 3rd when the band hit town to bring those tunes to life live for fear my ears might explode. But ears be damned, amiright?
“Slide” is just Torche-by-numbers and that is, by no means, a knock on their songwriting prowess. It just means that it’s all the kind of heavy, harmonious riffs coupled with huge choruses and screaming guitars that make Torche songs stand out from the rest. “What Was” is fast and rumbly while “Times Missing” is the exact opposite, bringing a wall of sound and an altogether different kind of brutality as the sludge steadily moves through your being.
Then we get to the title track and unless you managed to skip my opening salvo, you already know it’s a veritable beast. The kind that sends shivers straight to your soul as it bounces and bubbles, brimmng with bombastic energy.
But I digress. Again.
“Extremes Of Consciousness” is another mover and groover with Brooks’ voice merging with the guitar tones to create almost a new instrument then “On The Wire” comes in with the earthquake-inducing riffage and a Doom-laden ditty that’ll have listeners groovin’ along just as much as it’ll have them anxiously trying to find their footing as the ground shakes from the heavy ass vibrations. “Infierno” continues that trend and is kind of like the red headed stepchild of “Harmonicraft” until “Changes Come” brings a moment of brevity while retaining the heavy bravado to close things out.
Admission is out through Relapse Records on July 12th and available in a variety of cool ass vinyl versions as well as a not cool ass (looking) digital version. For your advance purchase needs you can click right here or here now. For more on Torche, including upcoming live dates, head on over here or here.