Torche/Nothing/Wrong

live in Allston (2015)

Brian Shultz

On the night of march 26, I missed most of opener Wrong due to some issues at the door, but they sounded good at least. Heavy, alt-metal-leaning rock in the vein of Helmet with members of Torche and Capsule, they sounded big, powerful, and pretty tight; I don't know if it's something I'd willingly listen to on the regular, but it seemed like a pretty sensible fit to kick this three-band bill off.

Torche's shoegaze labelmates Nothing were next, and proved to be a surprisingly compatible support act when they started their set off with a crushingly heavy rendition of "July the Fourth" (even compared to the studio version) after elongating its loud intro. This was my third time seeing the band (all three at this very venue, Great Scott, actually) and it might have been my favorite. They weren't always hitting every note or nailling every melody, but the vocals were loud and audible and didn't get drowned out by the band's wall of sound, which was a mesmerizing, shapeshifting force through 44 minutes. Moments like the beautiful bridge break in "Somersault" and the upbeat punk of "Bent Nail" and older cut "Downward Years to Come" were nice highlights, and certainly closer "B&E", which had a sick, smothering finish that sounded like it could have come from any sort of "heavy" subgenre band, really. The crowd was pretty into it and packing out this half of the bar near the stage just as much as anyone did for Torche's set.

Set list (10:20-11:04):

July the Fourth
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Bent Nail
Dig
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Get Well
Somersault
Downward Years to Come
Chloroform
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B&E

Torche followed with a great no-bullshit set that they immediately kicked into high gear with opener "Piraña," setting the crowd's mood for the night: politely aggressive headbanging while standing in place. I mean, I'd like to think we were all showing apt enthusiasm for the music (while respecting each other's space), but the seeming lack of moshpit action had vocalist/guitarist Steve Brooks felt compelled to ask us after "Sky Trials", "Y'all awake out there?"

Really, I don't mind when I'm able to stand close to the stage and just enjoy the band and not be thrown around wildly, so I was very cool with it. The band was tight (granted they had a few silly false starts for "Barrier Hammer", and I couldn't quite hear that sick chorus riff in "Healer" that comes just before the "whoa-oh") and really blasted through a good swath of mostly recognizable material from just about all their releases during their hour-long set. Their potent mix of sludgy aggression, pop hooks, and, on their most recent effort Restarter, psychedelic nuance (plus Floor-level heaviness), made for an engaging, dense-sounding hour with subtle variation, encompassing just about all the riffs and melodic moments we came for.

Set list (11:26-12:28):

Piraña
Sandstorm
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Healer
Minions
Loose Men
"In Return" or "Bishop in Arms" [?]
Kicking
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No Servants [?]
Undone [?]
?
Sky Trials
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Across the Shields
Vampyro [?]
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Restarter
Barrier Hammer
?
Blasted
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Annihilation Affair