{"id":85119,"date":"2019-07-11T17:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=85119"},"modified":"2023-02-24T14:46:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T14:46:15","slug":"review-torchbearer-against-the-tide-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-torchbearer-against-the-tide-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Torchbearer \u2013 Against The Tide EP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-85127 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1-465x465.png 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1-500x500.png 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1-600x600.png 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Torchbearer-Against-The-Tide-compressor-1.png 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Three years after their debut, <strong>Torchbearer<\/strong> are blasting back onto the stage with follow-up EP \u2018<em>Against The Tide<\/em>\u2019. Having relocated and whittled down their line-up, they come armed with five slabs of angry hardcore, aiming to set the scene alight.<\/p>\n<p>While their previous EP, \u2018<em>Pass The Nigh<\/em>t\u2019, showed promise, the overly long songs couldn\u2019t always hold your attention. This time, they\u2019re tighter, focused and far more satisfying. The huge rush of opener \u2018<em>Time Served<\/em>\u2019 makes a storming first impression. Frantic drum beats from Scott Harris take charge while Ollie Gould throws around a barrage of slick guitar riffs. It\u2019s the band on top form and a solid start, but while they\u2019ve shorn away the fat, their music is still difficult to chew.<\/p>\n<p>Produced by Jack Longman, the EP has a heavy, raw sound. The high quality, professional mix really brings out the music\u2019s power. Notably, \u2018<em>Ascender<\/em>\u2019 is absolutely massive, especially during the huge riff around the midpoint. It\u2019s the same story on \u2018<em>Drown<\/em>\u2019 where a powerful outro swoops in. However, the band fails to capitalise on this and the songs limp to a conclusion. Leaving a solid, but bland and unadventurous overall impression.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Torchbearer - Paralysed OFFICIAL VIDEO\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pbVmPHYK7BY?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Andy Mansell doesn\u2019t have a bad voice, but it\u2019s fairly generic. Hence, one bellowed passage sounds much like another and the choice of lyrics really doesn\u2019t help. \u00a0Not because they\u2019re bad, but because the same phrases are repeated in uninteresting ways. To the band\u2019s credit, they try to sidestep this by using two backing vocalists. Strikingly, \u2018<em>Paralysed<\/em>\u2019 layers melodies on top of Mansell\u2019s yells. However, they repeat the same clean passage, over again and it\u2019s extremely tiresome. \u2018<em>Torchbearer<\/em>\u2019 suffers a similar problem, relying on an uninspired cry in place of a chorus.<\/p>\n<p>A step in the right direction, <strong>Torchbearer<\/strong> have the riffs and a solid sound, but they are sorely lacking a spark. \u2018<em>Against The Tide<\/em>\u2019 is a solid base to build upon and its big sound will no doubt serve them well on the live circuit.<\/p>\n<p>2.5\/5<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<em>Against The Tide<\/em>\u2019 EP by <strong>Torchbearer<\/strong> is released on 12th July.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Torchbearer<\/strong> links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torchbearer.life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/torchbearerlondon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/torchbearerldn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/torchbearerlondon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/torchbearerlondon.bandcamp.com\/releases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ian Kenworthy (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhisperingSand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Torchbearer have the riffs and a solid sound, but they are sorely lacking a spark&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":85127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2269],"tags":[17290,15621,2500,17289],"class_list":["post-85119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ep-review","tag-against-the-tide","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-review","tag-torchbearer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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