EP Review: Torchbearer – Against The Tide

Welsh outfit Torchbearer are set to self release their new EP “Against The Tide” on the 12th July, their latest release follows on from their debut EP “Pass In The Night” that was released back in 2016 and is available a ‘name your price’ download via Bandcamp. Torchbearer originally rose from the ashes of Blowgoat, Tortuga of and Collapse which which should give you an idea that this is a band whose roots are deep and heavy, but with the release of “Against The Tide” there seems to be a slight shift away from the furious metalcore of the debut release. 

Torchbearer launch “Against The Tide” with “Time Served“, a track that in four and half minutes manages to embrace punk, hardcore, metalcore and even a few traditional new wave of British heavy metal guitar licks, something that makes it somewhat confusing listen, the straight up punk verse breaks down into satanic growls and at one point one of the stop starts that signified a launch into an intense breakdown led to me checking that a new track hadn’t started. “Against The Tide” is a five track EP that takes the term crossover to new heights, influences and styles relentlessly bleed into each other across a sprawling and genre bending EP.

The issue with Torchbearer‘s latest release is that it doesn’t seem to have a preference for one genre, so on each track elements of all the genres of music they love all seem to be crammed together, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Torchbearer occupy a unique spot in metalcore and are carving their own niche into a scene that is awash with bands covering the same ground. The press release that accompanied my copy of “Against The Tide” revealed that the band’s bassist and vocalist grew up in Pakistan with a devout and conservative Muslim family who believed Torchbearer‘s sound to be the ‘devil’s music’, they needn’t have any worries, Torchbearer may have a released a fine EP but as we all know the devil is quite picky and only has the best tunes.

Torchbearer can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bandcamp and YouTube

Torchbearer‘s website can be found here