69 Chambers – “Torque” (2012)

Label : Massacre Records

Review by Tony Cannella

On their second full-length album, “Torque” the Swiss band 69 Chambers looks to build upon what began on their 2009 debut “War on the Inside” and in so doing, the band has delivered a massively, multi-tiered sophomore effort, that is a huge (and I do mean huge) leap forward from their debut. “Torque” really runs the gamut of styles. While heavy in most parts, “Torque” does a good job in mixing up the tempos and infusing the album with different influences like melodic metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal and thrash, 69 Chambers’ pallet is full on “Torque”.  For “Torque”, 69 Chambers are joined by Coroner guitarist Tommy Vetterli (aka Tommy T. Baron) and his input is definitely instrumental in making this such a huge sounding album. Of course the focal point is multi-instrumentalist Nina Vetterli-Treml. In addition, to lead vocals, she also contributes guitars and bass. At over an hour’s worth of music, there is a lot to take in and “Torque” gets off to a roaring start with “Cause and Effect” which features Chrigel Glanzman from the band Eluveitie on guest vocals. Right off the bat, this song highlights what is so great about this band; you have the heavy thrash-metal like riffs combined with Nina’s smooth vocals and a killer melody. “Bring on the Flood” is next and is more of a straight forward song with bits of electronic music and some killer vocals by Nina who has a different style than a lot of vocalists in the femme metal scene and she should be considered one of the best vocalists in the genre. “Naughty Naughty Naughty” is next and this song adds some doom metal to the mix with an Ozzy-era Black Sabbath style guitar riff. My favorite song is “And Then There Was Silence” which opens with a very Slayer-ish guitar riff and is just a powerful song. The fact that 69 Chambers can be so heavy whilst still being a very melodic entity is one of my favorite aspects of the band. The melancholic piano dominated ballad “Elegy” brings the album to a close and shows another facet to the band. Other highlights include: “Burn Some Gasoline”, “The Peephole”, “Closure” and a cover of the Jeff Buckley song “Grace”. It is difficult to write a review on “Torque”, because I want it to be as detailed as possible. “Torque” is just a 60 plus minute whirlwind that hardly ever lets up. “War on the Inside” was a cool debut but “Torque” has the sound of 69 Chambers ascending to the next level.

Rating – 90/100

Tracklist

1. Cause and Effect (featuring Chrigel Glanzman)
2. Bring on the Flood
3. Naughty Naughty Naughty
4. Anhedonia
5. Burn Some Gasoline
6. The Peephole
7. Ring a Bell
8. Closure
9. And Then There Was Silence
10. Temple Down
11. Your Fool
12. The Doom of Her Power
13. Grace
14. Elegy

Line Up

• Nina Vetterli-Treml – Vocals, Guitars & Bass
• Tommy Vetterli – Guitars
• Diego Rapacchietti – Drums

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