First things first. I know this is a “bmx” site. I know most people don’t even like metal music these days. I’m also aware that my opinion doesn’t mean crap because musical taste is highly subjective. With that said I’m putting in my nomination for “metal album of the year”, the third release by Torche named Meanderthal. Now before I lose you, this is not your typical metal record:

Example 1: No screaming vocals. I’m convinced that 99 percent of metal music is destroyed by terrible vocals. You won’t find that here. The vocals are melodic and easy to swallow, not a single scream or growl on the entire album.

Example 2: No guitar solos. Same thing here. Guitar solos are usually annoying. We know you can play, you don’t have to rub it in our face.

Instead the music you’ll find on Meanderthal is catchy, dare I say almost pop in spots (see “Healer”). If it weren’t for the fact that Torche’s guitar sound is heavier than anything to come before it (except Slayer) I wouldn’t even define their music as traditional metal. I would say it’s more like indie-rock taken to another level. Torche has managed to take their trademark drop-tuned sound and morph it into something refreshing, a sound that blurs the lines between genres and brings hope to jaded metal fans like myself. I was convinced that good metal was a thing of the past, but today I’m happy to say I was wrong. Thank you Torche.