When I saw the announcement that post-sludge-doom metal trio TORPOR had teamed up with one of my favourite new labels Human Worth, I leapt at the chance to see if they needed any help with PR – A rare move for me as I usually obtain work via submissions. TORPOR are a band I’ve been following for years and are lovely, down to earth, humble people. I already own all their previous records, and have been blown away by their exhilarating, ear destroying yet spiritual live shows many times – so I was super thrilled to get the opportunity to work with them much closer.

TORPOR have been around for ten years now and in my eyes they are the best at what they do. They’re legends of the underground scene and easily the UK’s heaviest and most crushing doom/sludge band. Yet even though they are legends to me, perhaps to the wider scene they are still this hidden diamond in a massively oversaturated music landscape. Their admiration for texture, atmosphere, enormous tones, lengthy compositions, spoken word, deep emotion and raw personality makes them less immediate and less accessible, yet such thoughtful musicians who will reward your patience in spades. Perhaps their uncompromising dedication to crafting slow-burning masterworks also puts them at an arm’s length to those who want instant gratification from their heavy music. My goal for their stunning third full length album Abscission was to reinstate why they are the best of the best with the publications who had already favourably covered them in the past, and then to also introduce them to new ears and new publications the world over. I truly feel that TORPOR deserve to be heralded in the same conversations as the likes of Primitive Man, Electric Wizard, Amenra, YOB and Thou when it comes to the greatest doom and sludge bands, and I will always be shouting their praises.

ACCOLADES
“Abscission does a near perfect job of creating an atmosphere of hope, renewal and rebirth, alongside catharsis, death and withering.”
~ Noizze – 9/10

“Abscission is TORPOR’s most considered work thus far. They have become just completely towering, existing in the moody space between massive overhanging doom dread and post-metal expanse.”
~ Ninehertz

“TORPOR know how to craft huge monolithic structures that contain whole tapestries to wander through. A journey into bleak aural horror. Highly recommended.”
~ Wonderbox Metal

FROM THE PRESS KIT
For their third album, TORPOR were compelled to withdraw into the bleak and elemental vistas of rural Wales, embracing isolation and solitude in order to craft this autumnal sonic landscape. The trio brought producer and frequent collaborator Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad) out of his London city studio to work at Giant Wafer Studios. TORPOR gave themselves the creative space to leave lyrics and sections of the songs open to be completed in the windswept Welsh hillscape, allowing the narrative of these songs to expand and breathe in their surroundings. Some vocal takes were captured outside at night embracing the eerie darkness, evoking stream-of-consciousness and permission for sonic freedom. The title Abscission refers to the natural cycle of trees deleafing from Autumn into Winter. Specifically, abscission is the cutting off and letting go of spent leaves; part of the cycle of maturity and renewal which is reflected sonically and structurally by the flow of the five slow-burning meditations that make up this record. To quote Katherine May in Wintering, “The tree is waiting. It has everything ready… It is far from dead. It will not burst into life in the spring. It will just put on a new coat and face the world again.”  

TORPOR’s excursions into the wilderness can really be felt across these lengthy songs. Bludgeoning riffs show a new found density and weight reminiscent of gallant trees standing tall amongst battering wind and rain. The trio push at the limits of their earthy sound in all directions, pairing blistering and varied drum work with monumentally dense and radiant guitar-play. TORPOR also journey into eerie dissonance, languid drones and dreamlike spoken word to create a metaphysical kinship with the stark autumnal landscape. All of this sonic magnitude has been finely captured by Adams, with the final master by James Plotkin (Khanate) completing this all-encompassing experience. Abscission is the sound of TORPOR fully realising their visceral and cinematic vision, turning an unflinching gaze towards the unrealised lives we all carry with us.

Released on September 15th 2023 on Vinyl and Digital by Human Worth.

Photo Credit: Vogon Laundromat (1) // Lauren Mason (2)
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