Admission

Fantastic album, Torche have delivered yet again, haven't stopped playing it since I got it, pity it's only 36 mins long, it's over before ya know it. Highlight of 2019 definitely

This is one of the better albums I have heard all year and will probably be my AOTY. I love the Helmet influence! BUT, the vinyl is so warped, it is almost unplayable. I don't know if the incredible heat outside right now is the issue or the actual pressing. Just be aware

This album was on a best of 2019 list and that is why I bought it. I do not see why it ended up on that list. The work is so so at best. The title track is the best song on the album but not really that spectacular.

Love Torche. Great music for the heavy-liking but also very melodic. You've never heard a band like this before - trust and believe.

In the metal world of today, as in just about any pop, rock or country scenario, there is a problem with labels and bands copping successful formulas to cash in on trendy albums and sounds. Thus, music fans get clobbered with tons of bands that are long on imitation but very short on originality and a truly identifiable sound of their own. Not so with Torche. I described "Harmonicraft" in that review as one of the most metal pop rock albums ever or one of the most pop rock metal albums. It is still their high water mark. But after their last album "Restarter" which saw the band getting heavier and grungier, the band has not come quite full circle to the pop of "Harmonicraft" again but is much more accessible than "Restarter". "Admission" is Torche at their best. With guitar tones heavy enough to crack diamonds, the band balances that gargantuan attack with Steve Rogers' clean and melodic vocals and tempos that don't go crazy on the blast beats, in fact, employing none that I can tell. Instead it's groove and swing oriented drumming, very catchy riffing that Torche are seemingly the only band to come up with amidst the gravitational pull of the music. We get some hints of the doom legends Floor, Rogers' other band that has been silent for several years now, but as always with Torche there is more going on musically, whereas Floor are determined to create their own black hole with their sound that is even more sludgy and massive, if that's possible. Torche is a unique band, truly have a sound all their own, and deserve a listen if you haven't already become a fan. Now if getting the first couple CD's was easier.

This powerhouse Florida stoner/metal/groove band returns for their 6th album, mixing melody, muscle and musical surprises. Some songs just pound, pummel and grind; while others move through a strangely appealing combination of shoegaze, doom and punk. And Torche never ignores the melody. Instead, they like to smash it around until the bleeding fragments are torn and jagged—but still recognizable. Members have played in Cavity, Floor, Caveman Cult, Erratix, Shitstorm, Kylesa, Wrong, more. RIYL: Fu Manchu, Nothing, Baroness, Kyuss, Mastodon, Queens Of The Stone Age. “Admission” extends the band’s legacy as one of the most innovative and powerful groups to explore the odd arena of groove-driven metal doom-pop. Recommended.