Exclusive Track Premiere: Torrential Downpour’s “Phaneron”

We all know that Converse makes awesome sneakers (no exaggeration, our own Axl Rosenberg hasn’t worn any other brand since roughly 2004), but did you know that they also have a recording studio in Brooklyn… which they allow bands to use 100% FREE of charge? It’s true! Converse Rubber Tracks is a state of the art recording studio, complete with its own qualified sound engineers and too much equipment to even list here, that can be used by musicians of any genre to record their own music for FREE, the rights to which they completely retain. It sounds too good to be true… and yet, it’s a really real thing!

MetalSucks has teamed up with Converse Rubber Tracks to give five bands the opportunity to record in the studio for a day absolutely free of charge, inviting bands to apply through an open submission process this past May and June. Axl and Vince sifted through all the band entries — yes, every single one of them! — and chose their favorites. Subsequently, those five bands recorded new songs at Converse Rubber Tracks in August for a day each. Now, at last, MetalSucks is proud to debut the results! We’ll premiere one band’s song every day this week. Check out yesterday’s track from No Salvation here; today we continue with New Jersey’s Torrential Downpour.

Torrential Downpour were probably the least straight-ahead metal band we hosted during our week at Converse Rubber Tracks, but they were also probably the most focused: dudes came in with a vision and a game plan, and they executed it flawlessly. Whereas some bands came in and knocked out two or three tunes in a mere eight hours, Torrential Downpour stuck to just one, making sure every little detail was just right. They pulled it off. Not that there’s anything wrong with the former approach; just different strokes, different folks.

“Phaneron” captures the musical schizophrenia that makes this band so engaging but also hones in on what, exactly, makes them them. Those big, meaty guitar riffs with the sonic propulsion of the groovy drums and hard-hitting bass, those spaced-out sound effects, the gut-clearing vocals, the inability to stick to any one time signature for too long… except when they do, just to tease a few headbangs out of you.

Check out “Phaneron” below, and don’t forget to keep up with Torrential Downpour via Facebook and Bandcamp!