Reviews: Torque, The Tangent, Juniper Grave, Skies Turn Black (Review By Paul H)

Torque: Torque (Mascot Records -2019)

There’s been quite a deluge of reissued music from bands who barely scraped across the line the first time around. Often hailed as “underground classics”, it’s often complete bollocks. Bands who managed to shift a couple of hundred tapes in 1986 are rarely any better now and often they should be left to rest where they originally crashed. So, what does this rant have with Torque. Well, for thrash aficionados amongst you, Torque were an American thrash band that formed from the ashes of Vio-lence and featured Phil Demmel alongside Ray Vegas on rhythm guitar, Deen Dell on bass and drummer Mark Hernandez.

Originally released in 1994, this was the one and only album the band made. It’s raw, at times chaotic and extremely gnarly. With Demmel not only laying down the vicious guitar work he’s renowned for but also some notable snarling punk fused vocals, this is a blisteringly good thrash album. A surprisingly varied spread of tracks for a thrash band, there’s the Suicidal Tendencies stomp of Dead You Lay, the all-out aggression of H.L.S. and the more developed longer tunes including Nothing and Hand Over Fist. It throbs, it rolls, and it is as persistent as a snotty toddler. Old school in flavour and style, this is one album whose resurrection I welcome. 8/10

The Tangent: Proxy (Inside Out)

Formed initially as a one-off project, 15 years later The Tangent continue to produce progressive music crammed full of cinematic projections, clever lyrical narratives and intricate meandering music that harks back to the era of first space travel. Listening to Proxy and Supper’s Off on the day that the UK government managed to surpass itself with the biggest dog’s breakfast since Neville Chamberlain’s declaration of peace in 1938, you can’t help but agree with the vitriolic observations which are in my view, spot on. Whether keyboardist Andy Tillison imagined that in 2018 he’d still be pushing forward with the band is anyone’s guess but full credit to him for continuing to shape his lyrics with anarcho-punk angst rather than what someone new to the band might expect. 

As Tillison once stated, “there are no hobbits or orcs in our songs”. With a steady output since 2003’s debut The Music That Died Alone and a revolving door of musicians, it’s clear that this is Tillison's ship. This time around he features the talents of Luke Machin on guitar, Theo Travis on saxophone, flute and clarinet, long time conspirator Jonas Reingold (from Swedes The Flower Kings) and Marie-Eve de-Gaultier on vocals and keys. Musically it is a challenge to pigeon hole it at all, but with jazz fusion, rock, and space rock all in the mix, there is much to appreciate. The Adulthood Lie provides elements of Marillion, whilst there are numerous other links amongst the other six tracks in this 67-minute opus; think ELP, Caravan, Yes, Gentle Giant, Magenta and even Deep Purple and the faintest hint of Opeth. It’s either fabulous or a crock of shit. I favour the former. 8/10

Juniper Grave: Of Hellions And Harridans (Wasted State Records)

Arising from beyond the grave, Edinburgh four-piece Juniper Grave’s debut release Of Hellions And Harridans is a seriously good listen if you like your hard rock dripping with black magik, heavy riffs and a good dose of the occult. Blatantly stealing the best of bands such as Blood Ceremony, the band, Jenni Sneddan on lead vocals and organ, Shonagh on guitar and backing vocals, guitarist Sarah and drummer Jason have crafted 40 minutes of enchantment which quickly captivates the listen with its addictive style. Touching on elements of the Blues Pills alongside the darker side of our world, tracks such as the epically haunting The Bridge Between Worlds (which captivates with its Celtic undertones) and Dance Of the Daemon Queen show huge promise. As the year comes to a chaotic close, a dose of Juniper Grave is certainly most restorative. 7/10

Skies Turn Black: No Place Like Home (Self Released)

Most definitely for fans of BFMV, Avenged Sevenfold and Trivium, North of England four-piece Skies Turn Black have made no secret of their influences on this debut album. Whether their sound is ‘a modern approach to classic heavy metal’ is open to debate. They may well have the arena filling choruses that make those outfits so popular with the mainstream metal fan but is it anything that really vies for attention in an overcrowded market? It’s clean, melodic and the duel guitar sound neat enough but I struggled to have it on as anything more than background music. Occasional flashes of interest faded quickly into mediocre arena metal which does absolutely nothing for me. Maybe Alex should have reviewed this. He may well have given it a higher mark. Sorry. 5/10