Harmonicraft

Further refining their balance between heaviness and harmony, Torche deliver a true successor to 2008's brilliant Meanderthal with their third full-length, Harmonicraft. Feeling more fleshed out than the Songs for Singles EP, the album finds Torche recapturing some of the atmosphere that seemed to have left them after they parted ways with guitarist Juan Montoya, whose spacy solos added a sprawling element to the band's tightly constructed hybrid stoner/pop jams. Tracks like "Kicking" and "In Pieces" create a sense of spaciousness not often found in three-minute songs, highlighting Torche's incredible knack for getting the most heavy metal out of pop's bite-sized portions. Musically, there's not much difference between Harmonicraft and Meanderthal, and the album represents more of a fine tuning to their sound than an evolution. Where Songs for Singles was a chance for them to work out the kinks and find their feet again, Harmonicraft finds Torche taking off at full speed with an album packed full of driving riffs and soaring melody that's going to have an easy time convincing fans that the band hasn't lost a step after losing a member.