Metal Album of the Week: Torche - Restarter

Congratulations, you’ve stumbled into a weekly column where Simon, our station resident metal-head, tells you about a new metal album that you haven’t heard and why that needs to change as soon as possible. Bask in the glory of the riffs, dear reader!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to do a Metal Album of the Week post. Since I’m starting already about a month and a half into our lovely (or more appropriately, perhaps: brutally fucking cold semester, I’ve already turned into a grumpy bastard. I’m cold, I’m overworked, and I’m lazy, which is a terrible combination, trust me. That being said, I’ve picked a somewhat “happy” sounding record for this week’s column, since I need some beer drinking music that won’t make my four non-metal housemates want to cut off their ears. With that, I present to you the latest from the band Torche, Restarter.

I’m no expert on Torche, but I do remember jamming their previous two releases, Meanderthal and Harmonicraft, rather heavily during my later high school years when I got into them. Torche play a pretty unique kind of “metal,” and I use quotations because it’s a style that even non-metalheads could clearly enjoy: mixing sludgy stoner riffs with pop vocals. Typically, I’d hear that description and politely decline, but damn can these boys JAM!

The riffs on Restarter are fucking hypnotic, with a heavy low end that really makes you want to groove, but not headbang all that hard. The downtuned and chunky as hell guitar riffs are front and center, with some booming drums that aren’t overly-aggressive, just appropriately groovy. The vocals add to the hypnotic effect, with a sort of limited range and tone that fits the mood instead of being boring.

If you want an album you can jam out to, while enjoying some chunky riffs but not getting crazy enough to start a circle-pit, Restarter is the album for you. It’s best enjoyed with a couple of good beers, along with some of that stuff that just became legal in D.C, if you catch my drift.

Restarter is available now on iTunes, Spotify, and whatever the hell else you buy/play music on. Check out the song “Minions,” from the album and come back next week for some more riffage!

-Simon SV, Senior Metal Correspondent \M/