Torche leave very little room for misinterpretation as Restarter, their fourth album, begins. On vicious opener "Annihilation Affair", the quartet wallops a short, simple theme, in unison, at mid-tempo and very high volume. Frontman Steve Brooks barks his words, delivering them like marching orders as an enemy approaches: "Know it, build it, grow it, blow it," he shouts, the band surging behind him. The action eventually grinds to a dissonant halt, the guitars feeding back and screaming against the beat like a long train trying to brake before slipping into hell. After seeming so eager to capitalize on their pop underpinnings in recent years, Torche arrive on Restarter, their Relapse debut, as harsh, heavy and mean as they have been in nearly a decade.
Since the release of the head-turning 2008 shout-along Meanderthal, and the subsequent dismissal of guitarist Juan Montoya, Torche have not been shy about their melodic enthusiasm. Recorded as a trio, the eight-track Songs for Singles aimed to cram captivating hooks into rock tunes that ran anywhere from 52 seconds to more than six minutes. After adding guitarist Andrew Elstner, they cut Harmonicraft, a record whose cover of furry beasts holding chocolate-chip cookies and puking rainbows portended their most brisk and ebullient batch of songs yet. Torche were still plenty demanding, but the harmonies were brighter and the guitars both quicker and slicker. The metal at their core had started to melt; the big refrains and the bigger sound began to collapse into one another, producing diminishing tension. Harmonicraft felt transitional, putting Torche perhaps one album away from a package tour with retro-rock hawkers like Free Energy or Wolfmother.
But Restarter push Torche back toward the more punishing pole of its sound. The brief "Undone", for instance, counts as one of the heaviest pieces in Torche's catalog. Brooks leads multiple marching sections, but when he pauses, they slip into the sort of down-tuned, instrumental slogs that consumed multi-minute chunks of their early records. This allows Torche to be brutal while still moving, a trick they've rarely mastered. This doesn't mean they've suddenly slid into doom or sludge metal. These 10 songs are actually no less memorable than those on Harmonicraft; "Minions", "Blasted", and "Undone" rank as new shoo-ins for any hypothetical best-of-Torche collection.
This time, though, Torche achieve magnetism as a band that lumbers and roars in unison, instead of manic, flashy guitars or songs that seem in a hurry to reach an end. Bassist Jonathan Nuñez and drummer Rick Smith are essential like never before. They trace Brooks and Elstner closely, fortifying every melody and movement with powerful, unselfish playing. Brooks' seesaw singing during "Annihilation Affair", for instance, sticks because of how the bass and drums reinforce every note. Like the best songs from Meanderthal, "Loose Men" is agile but strong, lovable but aggressive. Its rhythm section is a juggernaut, but it moves gracefully around a guitar solo, like an elephant tap-dancing in a small room. During "Minions", incisive guitar lines and Brooks' monotone singing crisscross like a game of cat's cradle; Nuñez and Smith pulse behind the action, offering the equivalent of a house beat, pushing you along with the song. "Blasted" is one of Restarter's quickest songs, its racing tempo and vocals recalling Harmonicraft. But the rhythm section remains the bulwark beneath it, not making room for the band's pop-rock maneuvers so much as forcing them to fight for space and attention. Brooks sings of lascivious men and scenes that seem stolen from The Fast and the Furious. The band pushes you along for the ride.
Restarter is Torche's first album since Brooks reunited Floor, the band's predecessor in terms of style and personnel. It seems as if, in rebooting that old act, he remembered the root of the formula for both: Write catchy songs and play them at undeniable volumes, no gimmicks or flourishes necessary. On Restarter, that precept again takes the lead, and Torche have made their most compelling record since Meanderthal.
