Swedish rock duo
Johnossi went extra-large on 2017's
Blood Jungle, working with industry hitmakers and scaling up their already-capacious sound to a decidedly slick, though not totally unpleasant arena-filling level. To call 2020's
Torch // Flame a back-to-basics record would be somewhat of an overstatement, though it does opt for a more grounded, minimalist approach that better suits the band's simple guitar and drums set-up. Over its nine tracks, John Englebert (vocals, guitar) and Oskar "Ossi" Bonde (drums, percussion) reacquaint themselves with the riffy, straightforward style that won them an international following back in the mid-2000s. Songs like "Hot Thoughts" (not the song of the same title by similarly minimalist trio
Spoon) and " The Beat" are appealingly heavy and a little dirty while still sporting the kind of strong melodies that
Johnossi write so well. They also hit a few dynamic peaks and valleys along the way, toning it way down for the mostly acoustic title cut, then ramping it up for the anthemic "Sleepin' In." After reaching for the stars on their previous release,
Torch // Flame feels like a welcome return to form and plays to the band's strengths while turning in some solid songwriting in the process. ~ Timothy Monger