Since emerging in 2009 with their aggressive yet wickedly forward-thinking debut …To The Beat Of A Dead Horse, Touché Amoré have been slashing away at everything we thought we knew about hardcore.
Approaching the genre with a fragile spirit and open hearts, their penchant for gripping vulnerability has seen them cut straight to the core of the human condition in increasingly fresh and exciting ways. The Californian five-piece have become known for their refusal to skirt along the surface of the issues that matter, their gritty, emotional style constantly evolving as it digs deeper into the uncomfortable memories and regrets that pain us all,
Following 2016’s Stage Four – a collection of songs exploring grief in the wake of frontman Jeremy Bolm losing his mother to cancer - and its equally devastating 2020 companion piece Lament, Spiral In A Straight Line is a vital study into the aftermath of chaos. It picks apart the nuances of a life flipped upside down, each moment gripped by urgency, each melody morbidly meaningful.
From the second the contemplative notes of opener Nobody’s - a biting ode to scrambling for forward motion amidst adversity - cut through there’s no denying that Touché Amoré have nailed their target on album six. Their Rise Records debut sees them team up once again with producer Ross Robinson (Slipknot, Korn, Glassjaw), who also worked on Lament, and deliver some of their most dynamic moments to date. Each track offering a poignant new perspective on the unpredictability of life, the shapeshifting pace and throat-shredding screams of Disasters ringing out like the soundtrack to impending doom, whilst the unforgiving sonic assault of Mezzanine and beautifully brooding Altitude add new layers to the bleak sense of foreboding.
Nodding to the often puristic DNA of hardcore whilst keeping eyes firmly focused on evolution, across its whiplash 32-minute runtime Spiral In A Straight Line delivers the perfect blend of cathartic aggression and soaring melody. Capturing the universal feeling of falling apart whilst fluctuating between confusion and clarity, its journey is made all the brighter by its huge guest appearances. Subversion (Brand New Love) features Lou Barlow, its Sebadoh influence impossible to ignore, whilst closer Goodbye For Now ropes Julien Baker for a tear-jerking finale.
With over fifteen years spent redefining not only the genre’s present, but its future, Touché Amoré's influence can be seen everywhere in the scene. While the likes of Turnstile, Speed and Scowl adopt a similar meta-morphing approach, Spiral In A Straight Line is a reminder of just what makes Bolm and co.’s take on modern hardcore so brilliant.
