Review: Torchia “The Coven” [Rockshots Records]

Torchia, now a decade old band, had come a long way since their Finnish melodic death metal days, a style that was beaten to death and beyond with many no name bands which was the same story with them in their early works like Ending Beginning.

But in 2017, you can imagine my surprise when I got their first album Of Curses and Grief, an absolute balls to the wall death metal with enough flavour in measure in melodies: At first I thought that a got The Crowns new album. It was that fucking good.

Three years after, the new album The Coven arrived which in a way combines two sides of the band with new added elements. That being said, a lot of the good stuff went backwards with this one. Now, you would rightfully guess that I personally prefer faster, aggressive side of metal, but bear with me.

The Coven seems to fall in similar traps like in their demos with the Children of Bodom formula and milking the old gold cow with half catchy tunes patched up with modern production that’s is getting old by the speed of darkness.

Pretty much gone is the fast paced moments replaced with grooves that are not bad all together; there are some inspired and even surprising moments but you have that feeling as if the band is being held on the leash by their bigger label that this album is released.

By all aspects this more feels like it should be their debut album as a lot factors from Of Curses and Grief are left out. Nevertheless, tracks like Sky, Gallows and Forever Blood still holds up and sounds great. That could not be said for the rest of the songs that after a few listens I can’t even remember their names.

You have a feeling that the band is trying to be everything and satisfy all camps, especially commercial ones, stretching thin in the process and forgetting to write memorable songs, which is a shame because they had proved it in the first album. The Coven feels much like a compromised record, held on a leash to make casual Amon Amarth/Arch Enemy fans happy and everyone else bored.

Release date: March 27, 2020

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