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Torche

Torche is one of those bands I had always heard great stuff about via message boards, blogs, and other music-related website but had never taken the time to sit down and listen to. I’ve been a big fan of so called “stoner” metal for some time, so when I saw these dudes were touring with Boris a year ago (I think), I decided I had to give them a listen. And I wish I had been listening to them from day one.

Last night in Iowa City at the lovely Picador, Torche played with bands Mansion, Droids Attack, and local act Shore of the Tundra.

I instantly noticed that, unlike when they had destroyed Slim’s in San Francisco right before Boris, they were a trio. It wasn’t until five minutes ago when I looked Torche up on Wikipedia that I saw the dude on the far right had left the band due to “creative differences.” In my opinion, though, Torche didn’t miss a single beat without him.

These dudes play like no band I’ve seen before: they play fast, heavy, super-loud, and with 100% of their natural energy. The bands before them seemed to wrapped up in gnarly guitar solos and spacing out over huge riffs (which, to Mansion’s credit they did quite well) or fucking with their software-based drum machines. Torche doesn’t fuck with any of that: they got up, plowed through their set list and were done. It’s the most punk rock thing you could expect of a band like this.

These guys are doing a pretty lengthy tour of the United States and their playing with another band I like a great deal, Dredg. Visit their Myspace and look for them in your hometown. And please, go see them. They’re super nice dudes who play a stripped-down but massively entertaining show. 

Like-minded bands: Floor, Isis,  Pelican, Baroness, Boris, Coliseum, Young Widows, Kylsea

Key Tracks: “In Return” from In Return / “Mentor” from Torche / “Healer” from Meanderthal