Torche’s second album starts unpromisingly, with an almost unlistenable piece that seems designed solely to demonstrate how fast they can play.

Mercifully, ‘Grenades’ sets the template for what follows – doom-laden stoner rock, with distorted guitars playing huge riffs and the kind of solos that went out of fashion over thirty years ago. Meanderthal keeps improving from this point on. ‘Pirana’ and ‘Speed of the Nail’ are fast and brutal, with the guitar lines and pounding drums sounding like Queens of the Stone Age covering Rocket From The Crypt.

‘Healer’ and ‘Across the Shields’ bring to mind Husker Du and are both great pieces of dark punk-metal, with droning guitars and soaring melodies. ‘Fat Waves’ effectively brings all the elements of Torche’s sound together, starting as classic American-style punk pop and ending in some serious heaviness. It’s rare to find a band that can swing so convincingly between loose freakouts and tight, taut rock, and Torche seem able to do so effortlessly.

Chris Taylor