MUSIC
Doom Metal That’s Looking Up
New from Torche, hard rock band with the rare out gay member
BY STEVE ERICKSON
Torche’s “Admission” is
thick and syrupy as molasses.
Although the band
usually gets called metal
(they’re not thrilled with genre
tags), they push rhythm guitar
and drums to the front and envelope
their music in a layered, trebly
wall of noise that comes closer to
shoegaze. “Admission” dials Steve
Brooks’ vocals down in the mix
and fl oats down-tuned riffs on top
of start-and-stop rhythms.
Torche’s music doesn’t emphasize
solos, although on most songs,
guitarist/ producer Jonathan Nuñez
darts out to play brief melodies
that are barely audible above the
rest of the band. They play together
as a unit. Instead of 16th-note
shredding, Nuñez’s lead part on
“Infi erno” breaks into an abrasive
clump of pedal-driven noise.
The roots of Torche’s sound lie
in ‘80s bands like Kyuss and The
Melvins. They formed in Miami
in 2004, after Brooks’ band Floor
broke up, releasing their fi rst album
the following year. For a band
that’s been labeled doom metal,
stoner rock, and sludge rock, their
music is surprisingly upbeat. Much
of the best recent American metal
has come from the South, with an
ambience evoking long, hot summers.
Aseethe, told the download
site Bandcamp, “Doom music is
excruciating; it is slow, and can be
rather painful.” Torche don’t live
up to that description, nor does
their music summon up a “hand of
doom,” to lift Black Sabbath’s song
title. Instead, most of “Admission”
communicates a sense of triumph.
Torche have gone back and forth
in their musical direction. After
a fairly raw debut album, their
next three albums “Meanderthal,”
“Songs For Singles,” and “Harmonicraft”
went in a more melodic
vein. Some reviews described it as
“stoner pop.” But their 2015 debut
for their current label Relapse
Records, “Restarter,” returned to
a more abrasive sound. Torche’s
recent music emphasizes rhythm
over melody, which usually comes
Torche’s newest album, “Admission,” drops July 12.
Torche have been together as a band since 2004.
from the vocals. Of all the songs
on “Admission,” “What Was” brings
hard rock close to dance music.
“Infi erno” is a dirge whose invocation
of hell sets the stage for
RELAPSE RECORDS
DAN ALMASY
the far more upbeat album closer,
“Changes Come.”
Brooks’ lyrics rarely arrive at a
direct point. Their subject matter
is usually ambiguous and hard
to pin down, instead describing
emotional states indirectly. His delivery
and the words’ sound make
more of an impact. “Times Missing”
and the title track stand out
because they seem to refer to the
aftermath of a breakup. On the
former, he sings “Lost in time/
Viewing through your magic eyes/
Reminded of times missing.” The
chorus of “Admission” repeats,
“Yes, I will pretend/ I don’t need to
love again.”
Brooks came out in 1993, long
before Torche formed. Hard rock/
heavy metal has an ugly history
with homophobia and queer invisibility,
despite Rob Halford embracing
a leather daddy persona
long before he was open about his
gayness. Axl Rose felt comfortable
writing the grotesquely homophobic
(and racist) “One In a Million”
in 1988; at the opposite side of “extremity,”
Bard Eithun, drummer of
the Norwegian black metal band
Emperor, murdered a gay man in
1992. In an article by Hannah Ewens
on Red Bull’s website, Brooks
discusses his teenage years and
diffi culties accepting his sexuality
in the metal scene: ““None of
the bands I listened to were gay. I
didn’t have anyone to look up to in
the world of what I do or the type of
music I admire. It would have been
good… For those that are gay and
alone and maybe in small towns
and have heard of our band: we’re
here.”
One could trace Torche’s DNA
all the way back to the ‘70s, with a
touch of Tony Iommi in their guitar
sound. But they distinguish themselves
from the many doom metal
bands doing derivative cosplay.
Brooks and Nuñez’s guitar playing
is both dissonant and bright.
Their music is heavy without being
macho or aggressive. “Admission”
requires repeated listens for its
hooks to sink in, but they do exist.
Fifteen years into their existence,
Torche are still expanding the potential
of hard rock.
TORCHE | “Admission” | Relapse
Records | Drops July 12 | relapse.
com/torche-admission
July 4 - July 17, 2 40 019 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
