From their blistering melodies to their bulldozer riffs, Miami quartet Torche are one of the most innovative bands in metal today, blurring the borders between metal, sludge and doom.
As a band they specialise in anthems: every song full of contagious hooks, frantic riffs and deafening major-key progression. Often labelled as a transitional band, unable to settle on a record label or genre, their legacy is bound to their unwillingness to settle.
Bassist Jonathan Nuñez sheds some light on their time together over the past decade and the group’s ties to sludge metal. "We have a big-loud-heavy sound! We have melody and upbeat songs, akin to rock and roll. People need to be able to reference the band; a lot of bands before us like Floor and Cavity have set the mould for what we are moving forward.
"I feel we are a little bit different to other sludge bands, we don't want to get pigeonholed so we feel we have a freer approach to making music."
Torche have been captivating the world’s of metal, hardcore, punk and experimental music for exactly a decade; they celebrated their time together with an anniversary tour of the United States, before heading down under next week.
But to understand where they’re now, it's important to know how metal became a central passion. "When I was younger I got into classic rock and slower stuff, bigger sounds, less surgical,” Jonathan confesses.
“As time went on I got into bands who were producing more powerful sounds and tones. It seemed more organic, more natural, faster vibes and emotion. It was something I knew I wanted to spend my life doing."
The band’s origins span back to Steve Brooks and Juan Montoya (originally of the band Floor) coming together with Jonathan and Rick Smith to form in 2004. Their back catalogue spans three full-length albums amid a wash of EPs and split releases.
2012's highly lauded 'Harmonicraft' would stand-out as the band’s most complete record to date; its follow-up is slated for later this year on their new label. Relapse Records. "The new album is going to be called 'Restarter'. It is definitely harder than the last record, more along the lines of the 'Harmonslaught' 7-inch that we released.
"There are still catchy upbeat jams, but the overall tone of the record is more true to the live sounds. It is a bit of a departure from the more upbeat rock compared to the previous albums. We can't wait to play the songs live!”
When talking about their approach to ‘Restarter’ after the success of 'Harmonicraft', it’s understandable there would be expectations from a band in the business of bliss — think the good-vibration harmonies of The Beach Boys meets the bad-vibration sludge of The Melvins. It's important not because Torche have changed, but because metal has changed so rapidly around them.
"We are not really the type of band that goes into something pre-planned. We had some riffs prepared but a lot of the stuff that we do happens on the spot; we come into a new album and just let it happen," Jonathan explains.
"Everybody has their own style; we are pretty intense and brutally honest with each other and it has worked in the past and hopefully will continue in the future. It is what makes a band a complete sound, working together. It takes a group of people to write a certain type of song and we recognise where certain aspects of the sound are going to come from different members of the band."
One can argue the greatest virtue of Torche is they appeal to all music fans. "We are super excited to come down, this will be a first for us. The closest we have been was Japan, so we are all incredibly excited to have this opportunity. I don't take any travelling for granted, every country brings something special and gives us amazing experiences."
Written by Ted Tabet
Torche Tour Dates
Thu 16 Oct - Crowbar (Brisbane)Sat 18 Oct - Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
Sun 19 Oct - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)
