UMUR
"Torque" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by US, California based thrash/groove metal act Torque. The album was released through Mascot Records in 1996. Torque features 4/5 of the last Vio-Lence lineup before they disbanded. Only Vio-Lence vocalist Sean Killian isn´t featured on this album, and guitarist Phil Demmel has therefore taken on the lead vocal duties in addition to playing guitar. Additional vocals are performed by guitarist Ray Vegas and backing vocals by bassist Deen Dell. After guitarist Robb Flynn left Vio-Lence to form Machine Head, the remaining members of Vio-Lence recorded a 1993 demo, but after Killian also decided to jump ship, the band felt that a name change was due.
Stylistically the material on "Torque" don´t really sound like Vio-Lence either. While there are still thrash metal riffs and ideas here and there, this is a heavier and more groove oriented metal release, and it´s obvious Torque were greatly influenced by contemporary releases by artists like Pantera, Sepultura, and especially Machine Head, which is the band they have most in common with.
In many ways this album is like listening to a tier 2 version of "Burn My Eyes (1994)" by Machine Head. It however came a few years too late to make the same impact as the mentioned classic thrash/groove metal release, and quality wise it´s sub par to "Burn My Eyes (1994)" too. When that is said there are still a couple of decent thrash/groove metal tracks featured on the album, and I´d especially mention "Nothing", as one of the strongest tracks on the album. The remaining tracks aren´t of a bad quality, but too many of them aren´t particularly memorable beyond their playing time. The album features a raw sounding production job, and at times I´m reminded of a polished demo recording. The guitars often lack sharpness and the triggered bass drums quite frankly sound awful. The vocals are raw and shouting, and while they are decent enough and suits the instrumental part of the music, they aren´t anything out of the ordinary for the style.
"Torque" is unfortunately a prime case of a band going through the motions and trying to latch on to a popular contemporary sound, because their original style is out of fashion. There´s nothing wrong with changing your style and adopting other musical elements through your musical career, but you have to still produce quality material to maintain credibility. That´s not really the case here, although the quality of the material is generally decent. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.