Torche’s Meanderthal is a fine, fine album — thunderous, downtuned, droney honky, mid-range guitars combine with poppy melodies and a giant bong of your dealer’s best to create an album that stands as one of the more interesting and engaging metal albums of 2008. Meanderthal perfectly melds the aesthetic of the Melvins, the drive and riffage of Queens of the Stone Age and the stoner melodies of Baroness into a pop-melody cocktail that just works. There’s a hint of ’90s alterna-grunge influence too, though I can’t quite put a finger on it — think the heavier moments of Mellon Collie-era Smashing Pumpkins tuned down a couple of steps and a little rougher around the edges. The epic “Grenades” and triumphant “Across the Shields” are standouts, in turn rocking, crushing and eloquent. “Sundown” and “Without a Sound” show that the band can plod sludgingly with the best of ‘em while “Speed of the Nail” and “Healer” rock out with their cocks out. Shimmering guitars and rhythmic shifts show their faces occasionally but only for a moment before the rocking commences. The weakest link by far are Steve Brooks’ gruff vocals which come off as unrefined and uninteresting, ultimately at odds with the rest of the music. But no matter, Torche as a whole are so good that Meanderthal is sure to be one of those underground phenoms that people will talk about for years to come.

-VN

(four out of five horns)

Meanderthal is out now on HydraHead Records [Buy it Here]. They are on tour in the U.S. throughout May with The Sword and June with Boris.

[Torche on MySpace]