We’re extremely excited about MonstrO, the new band featuring ex-Torche guitarist Juan Montoya, bassist Kyle Sanders (Skrew, Bloodsimple, brother of Mastodon’s Troy Sanders), drummer Bevan Davies (Danzig, Comes With the Fall), and vocalist and guitarist Charlie Suarez (Sunday Driver, no relation to Gary). Modern-day Torche is fantastic, but if you ask us they haven’t been the same since 2008′s infectious Meanderthal, the last album to feature Montoya. That’s where MonstrO comes into play.

No disrespect meant to the other three musicians in this band, all quite established in their own right, but Montoya’s hefty stoner-pop paws are all over this band. Fans of Torche are really gonna love MonstrO’s forthcoming William DuVall-produced (Alice In Chains, Comes With the Fall) album. Shit, all fans of good music are gonna like it; it’s heavy, fun, and easy to get into without being cheesy in the slightest. Preview the track “Stallone” below, “Anchors Up!” on the band’s Facebook page, and pick up the album when it comes out on September 6th via Vagrant Records.

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MonstrO will be in tour in September and October with Kyuss Lives. Dates after the jump:

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If you’re immediately struck by MonstrO’s musical resemblance to Torche, don’t be: that’s ex-Torche guitarist Juan Montoya’s electro-fried “stoner pop” tones you’re hearing in the Atlanta quartet’s debut song “Anchors Up!”

And it sounds damn good, doesn’t it? I wasn’t among the Torche fanboys that endlessly bemoaned Montoya’s exit from the group in 2008, but there’s no question that Montoya was integral to Torche’s sound and the band hasn’t been the same since. Good news, then, that he’s formed a new band as his musical outlet with an equally compelling cast of characters: bassist Kyle Sanders (Skrew, Bloodsimple, brother of Mastodon’s Troy Sanders), drummer Bevan Davies (Danzig, Comes With the Fall), and vocalist and guitarist Charlie Suarez (Sunday Driver, no relation to Gary).

MonstrO have already recorded their self-titled debut with producer and Alice in Chains vocalist William DuVall, who was Bevan Davies’ bandmate in Madfly and Comes With the Fall. Expect it on September 6th via Vagrant Records.

-VN

On Sunday night we caught the Beard Destroyer 2009 tour with Hull and Batillus (sadly for us, Salome didn’t play that date). It crushed even harder than we thought it would, so we asked our friend, Batillus skinsman Geoff Summers, to do a tour wrap-up for us. We hope you enjoy!

So, here I sit with a mild case of PTD (post-tour depression) writing up this wrap report for the so-called Beard Destroyer tour featuring Salome, Hull, and my band, Batillus. We had some good times, and we had some bad times. It rained. A lot. Everywhere we went. Fortunately, though, the good dwarfed the bad. Let’s recap…

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