Looking to finish the job they started earlier this year on
Committed to the Ground,
Torch Runner's second release of 2014,
Endless Nothing, arrives to ensure that whatever remains of those who made it through their previous effort are pummeled into oblivion. While some metal bands might be looking to create a sense of catharsis for their listeners,
Torch Runner's brand of relentless sonic violence shows that the band is after nothing short of utter and total destruction. Opening with a brief wail of feedback and lone, scuzzed-out riff, the first 12 seconds of "Attrition" represent what is arguably the album's calmest moment. When the song erupts just moments later into a frenzy of blastbeats and guttural sludge, it's clear that, as the song's title implies, the listener won't be making it through fully intact. And like a cleansing fire, the album continues to grow and spread, rendering to ash all it comes into contact with in an all-consuming and uncaring blaze. By making their album a race toward total annihilation,
Torch Runner have crafted a more active listening experience that seems to demand that the listener fight or be destroyed. Where some bands might be content to simply hand emotional purification to the listener,
Torch Runner make them earn it by doing battle with their seemingly unstoppable, 22-minute juggernaut of an album. And while this might make
Endless Nothing an exhausting undertaking, it's also one that is immensely satisfying and ultimately rewarding for anyone willing to fight for survival in the face of negation. ~ Gregory Heaney