Touché Amoré "Stage Four"

It always amazes me how on album the band comes off as soft and soothing, while live the audience starts climbing on the curtains. The lush songwriting found on the group's latest release is almost folk-worthy, at times distancing themselves so far from the hardcore roots they've grown up in.

     While many bands who have taken the same route in this stage of their careers fell flat as a pizza and lost fans and eventually faded into oblivion only to do an anniversary tour of their pinnacle release ten years later, Touché seem to develop a sound that while challenges their entire catalogue, is completely different than anything else they've ever accomplished. While a bit too smooth at times, the album still remains true to their sound and expands it even further than we've ever imagined.

     While it seems that Bolm may have exhausted his hardcore enthusiasm on this year's Hesitation Wounds debut, Stage Four takes the chance to stretch the band further than they've ever gone and ensure they cement themselves into a career category that will enable them to play bigger shows and gain a new audience with a potential for endless exposure.