Review by Sam Carter
Okay so prior to listening to this I was really worried. After the first play through I couldn't decide something - was it good as it was damn good, or was it good as it was Torche? From a band that bridge that gap between metal and dare I say it, pop, so well I just didn't know what to expect.
Harmonicraft is a multi-layered dream. On each listen, another part is stripped back and heard differently. Take the free download of "Kicking" - my first thought was how almost Foo Fighters-esque this sounded, how commercially viable this was. Stadium rock Torche? Yeah, that's not for me.
Then I listened again. And again. And again. And it's so good. Steve [Brooks]' vocals are clearer, more distinctive. That wonderful fuzz ever reminiscent of every Torche release is there, but clearer. Heavy bass? Yep. That's there. But has a clean feel. Songs like "Snakes are Charmed", "Kicking", "Sky Trials" and "Roaming" stand out, but there isn't a bad track.
All in all, they've done it again. It's a great record. A really great record, in fact. I'd happily put this up there in my top 20 of the end of the year lists already. It isn't as raw sounding as Meanderthal, but this works better in so many ways. I'm glad they haven't tried to recreate an old sound, as Harmonicraft works so well for them.
Also, "Kiss me dudely"? Probably the best sing title I've ever heard.
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