Music
[Album Review] Torche ‘Harmonicraft’
Review by GregBurchert
Harmonicraft is the third full-length release from Miami’s bottom-heavy rock advocates, Torche. It is the follow up to their name making release, Meanderthal (2008), which was paid much worship by the sludge junkies of the time. Harmonicraft explores the tone the band is known for, and continues to make low end frequencies relevant for rock acts. Subwoofer required.
With their third go, Torche does well to harness and develop the sound they have become known for. The thick guitar and bass tones over punching drums are key. Singer Steve Brooks’s voice has not lost its atmospheric reverb or the jam spot enthusiasm. The group has not strayed much with the new record, but they have explored more of the positive end of moods in their songwriting. The record starts with the high energy “Letting Go”. It’s a two minute sprint of righteous drums like an army of canons. Then there is songs like “Roaming” and “Snakes Are Charmed” that are proof positive that major scale based rock can exist and manage a good kick in the mouth, musically speaking.
The record lets up with the drag racing pace it lures the listener in with on occasion. The slower tunes like “Reverse Inverted” still have the energy to warrant a bar fight, or a thrown chair at the least. There is also “Looking On”, a dark, Sabbath-style track ending Harmonicraft with screaming guitars and blaring chord hits.
The Final Word: Harmonicraft does not disappoint. All the ingredients are still in play for those veterans that wish to inquire. With their third record in the bag, Torche maintains full killing capacity while sporting a humble arsenal.
It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.
Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.
Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.
“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.
“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”
You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…
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