Well, it’s not often I listen to something and wish it was me who came up with the lyrics. But that’s exactly what happened when “Frankenstein Girl” wormed its way into my ears. This is the opening track on Toria and the Terror’s latest EP, The Operating Table. In just shy of 3 minutes, Toria manages to take you on a sonic trip starting out with garage rock goodness, through skank beats and somehow seamlessly into double-pedal driven pseudo-metal! I was so impressed by the picture she paints from the opening lines to the chorus. I found myself stitching together a mental picture of this Frankenstein girl (pun whole-heartedly intended)!
Things get spooky on track 2, “The Morgue”, where the tempo shifts to a lilting surf-rock vibe. The vocal intensity remains and the delivery is sublime. The musicianship is second to none and the song is very well written. It successfully shows a parallel to their style, yet maintaining their tonal fingerprint.
Final track of the 3-track EP is a cover of the song “Stigmata Martyr” by Bauhaus. Before launching into this track, I was left wanting to hear more original material, thoroughly gripped by the previous songs I’d heard, but this cover somehow built on the band’s sound in a way I wasn’t expecting. By this point I was used to Tristan’s inventive yet driving beats. I was used to Aaron’s playful yet heavy guitar playing, and my ears had tuned to Dan’s bass wizardry. But that was amped up here with beautiful noise; a soundscape almost theatrical and a culmination of voices not yet experienced in this manner. Toria herself demonstrates the range not only of her vocal timbre, but also level of the grit she can apply seemingly on a whim. It almost feels cathartic.
The band have been carving their way through Japan in May 2026, and “The Operating Table EP” is out on the 15th of May – pre order it here: https://wearehorrorrecords.com/album/3964906/the-operating-table
https://toriaandtheterror.com
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