Janette Valentine / Submitted photoTorche released its newest album, “Restarter,” on Feb. 24.

Torche

“RESTARTER”

Relapse Records

On its 2012 album “Harmonicraft,” Torche so seamlessly blended heavy rock and soaring melodies, it all but established a new subgenre: sludge-pop.

Now, the Miami band is back with its fourth album, “Restarter,” and it wastes no time trying to emphasize its sludgy side. Lead track “Annihilation Affair” is a sledgehammer of riffs so dark and fuzzy they almost drone through chord changes, while Steve Brooks’ apocalyptic lyrics live inside a melody that’s less dynamic than what we’re used to hearing from him. To top it off, the song’s final third devolves into a bog of noise.

The illustrated cover of “Harmonicraft” featured colorful hot-air balloons, dragons vomiting rainbows and several shades of pink. The “Restarter” cover is much more drab, and “Annihilation Affair” is a clear sonic precursor to a darker side of Torche.

And “Restarter” is darker than the band’s previous work, but still, Brooks’ sharp pop sensibility cannot be suppressed. The rumbling “Bishop in Arms” begins with a variegated chorus of ahhhs before careening off into space. “Loose Men” and “Blasted” are hulking power-pop songs that would make Torche as famous as the Foo Fighters in an ideal world. Even “Minions,” its pace and tone akin to doom metal, is leavened by an astral bridge and skyscraping guitar solo.

“Restarter” loses steam as it draws to a close, however. Lined up, “No Servants,” “Believe It” and “Barrier Hammer” are a slog, despite the latter’s welcome nasty streak. But then comes the closing title track, with its glistening, propulsive groove. Across its nearly nine-minute running time, “Restarter” (the song) builds and builds into a tower of howling guitars and thunder that will stand until Torche itself comes along to knock it down again.

— Ben Salmon,

The Bulletin