Meanderthal

I had to stop listening to this album on the first few attempts. The question `what the f**k?' was constantly ringing through my head, along with shifting enjoyment and cringing. And really, numerous listens later, I still don't really know. "Meanderthal" is some kind of pop-sludge-mainstream rock-doom-prog metal thing. And I'm really unsure what to think of it all.

Torche's EP "In Return" was all I had previously sampled, and it was good, fuzzy stoner metal with some doom and shoegaze influences. "Meanderthal" is a whole new sound. The first two tracks are immediate examples of this, with the opener "Triumph of Venus" drifting into cheesy prog-metal, masturbatory guitar noodling, whizzing up and down an ascending scale pattern. It's terribly cliched and just completely bores me. Then "Grenades" comes in with an insipid guitar hook, followed by some rank vocal harmonies that sound ripped from a throwaway North American emo-rock band. But then, once I picked up the confidence to go beyond track two, I found some real enjoyment.

There are times when the odd pop-stoner sound works. This is most notable with "Across The Shields", which builds to an absolute blast of a finale - a booming happy-sounding riff thunders in, the vocal harmonies actually work, and it's all fitting into place. It's fun stoner metal. I bob my head along with a smile. This song is what every song on "Meanderthal" should be doing, yet only a small few accomplish.

I understand that the stoner/doom genre is quite inaccessible for many. There is room for a band from the genre to bring in a more immediate and catchy sound, and at times "Meanderthal" achieves this. But there is too much variation. Often I can both enjoy and deeply loathe moments within the same song. So, fans of stoner/doom expecting more of "In Return" should approach with caution. Those who want a more catchy heaviness might want to give it a try.

The 'Post Metal' genre is one that I enter only on occasion and and only when the music quality warrants it. MEANDERTHAL more than deserves attention. It is a fantastic album and recently highlighted on Sound Opinions 'Best of 2008' Christmas show, taking 2nd best overall. Deservedly so. Rock sensibilities, crazy-fun punk influence, and driving, deep metal combine in an album that is remarkably listenable, even for the non metal-head. Mettalica-esque melodies, lush guitar riffs, and grinding bass give the listener the feeling of being slowly consumed by musical greatness; and this music will consume you, not the other way around. 4/5 stars.

Meanderthal clocks in pretty short, with only one song surpassing the 5-minute mark, and several under the 3-minute mark, but it flows as easily as thirteen cheap beers through a funnel and does about as much damage. "Triumph of Venus" acts as a short, instrumental introduction to the album, but right from the start you can tell that nothing is going to be held back here. It's the topic sentence of the album, and lets you know right up front what's in store: fast-paced Sabbath-inspired tunes that blend the highs and lows of sludgy metal and stoner rock. Even if the vocals leave something to be desired, you get a good share of creative riffage and murky guitar solos throughout.

Meanderthal is a marked improvement over Torche's first album. The sound is cleaner and more refined, yet it still somehow contains the raw heaviness expected from this band. Like that crunch in the self-titled track; drop-F tuning, or whatever it is they did there. Overall, it's a happy brand of doom-laced sludge with a dash of pop, that instead of making you want to simply crawl in a hole and die, may make you want to pilot a hand-glider over a stretch of desert in the American southwest, and culminate the experience by slamming full speed into the side of a cliff, dying thusly. Recommended for fans of early Black Sabbath, Queens of the Stone Age, Isis, etc.

The problem with a lot of rock and punk music is that all-too-often there isn't enough backing the standard "catchiness" and energy to make it hold up over repeated listens. And especially for those of us headphone-listeners, such music seems flat and lacking texture.

For sludge/drone/"post"-metal (there's far too many names for this loose confederation of bands), the problem is very much the opposite. For all the carefully-crafted texture, soundscapes and melodies, time/signature changes and complex drum-work there isn't much of the music that is instantly accessible - no melodies that are easy to hum along with, no beats that are easy to tap out - and hence the genre toils in obscurity.

If only there was a band that could combine the strengths of both and hence eliminate their weaknesses... fortunately, TORCHE is to the rescue with their sophomore effort Meanderthal.

Writing almost radio-friendly rock songs and infusing them with the ponderous depth of post-metal and the energy (and brevity) of punk rock, Torche have found a groove that should resonate with a lot of people. This is music that you can play at parties or with a car-full of friends who have never heard of Isis or Pelican or Neurosis (I tried this experiment myself), but also music that you can take home and throw on the home stereo or headphones and also appreciate the details that Torche have ingrained into each one of their songs.

I cant believe how good this band and this album are. I havent even heard any of their other stuff yet, because I'm still letting "Meanderthal" sink in... but I CAN tell you that I saw them live last night and they were as good in person as they were on stage.

What a weirdly likeable band: in them you can hear Helmet, the Foo Fighters, standard metal, standard punk, and none of those things at the same time.

These guys deserve to be huge.

I'm a fan of this record, at the very least, for life.