Torch (band)

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Torch
General information
Genre (s) Heavy metal
founding 1980 as Black Widow
Founding members
Chris J. First
Steve Streaker
guitar
 Claus Wildt
Current occupation
Östen "Dan Dark" Kauppi
guitar
 Eric Rauti (since 2009)
guitar
 Mr Kennywise (since 2009)
Drums
 Magnus "Dynamite" Ulfstedt (since 2009)
Jörgen "Poe" Andersson (since 2009)
former members
singing
 Stefan Wedlund
bass
 Ian Greg
bass
 monkey
guitar
 Alex
Drums
 Janne

Torch is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm that was founded under the name Black Widow .

history

The band was formed in 1980 by Chris J. First, Steve Streaker and Claus Wildt as Black Widow. In 1981 it changed its name to Torch. At first Stefan Wedlund took over until Dan Dark joined the band a short time later and became their singer.

In 1982 the band released their first EP Fireraiser and shortly thereafter went on a European tour and played at several festivals. She performed with Motörhead and Warlock , among others . Although they became popular beyond Scandinavia, the band had few appearances outside of their homeland. In 1983 she released her debut album, known as both Torch and Warlock ; however, the official title is Torch . The album was initially only available in Germany as an expensive import until the Mikulski company published a German pressing via Zyx-Metal. In 1984 an EP numbered 1,500 followed with the three pieces Bad Girls , The Serpent and Cut Throat Tactics , which were originally supposed to appear on the debut album, but were deleted in order to avoid excessive length and thus a poorer sound. According to Electrikiss , the band “mostly had problems on the business side” and disputes with record companies who “wanted to push us into a more commercial corner and gave no support for a meaningful tour. That cost us a lot of time and energy, which made the joy of songwriting and creativity suffer. At the same time, some of us became fathers, and so our priorities shifted into our private lives. ”Since then, Dan Dark has been the singer of the Accept cover band Except, with whom he performed at the 2001 Headbangers Open Air, and tried his hand at acting.

Dan Dark read on the Internet that “there was a great deal of interest worldwide in eighties power metal and also in TORCH. When I ran into someone in Australia who was releasing a live bootleg from us from the Mud Club in Gothenburg , I knew that the time was ripe for a comeback . ”After nearly twenty years of inactivity, he planned more concerts and contacted the others Members, but only he had the time and motivation. Since he did not want to give up the idea, he put together a new line-up with bassist Affe and guitarist Alex from the Scaar group and drummer Janne from Astral Carneval. The current line-up consists of Dan Dark, the guitarist Eric Rauti from the metal band Dreamland and Mr Kennywise from the hard rock / metal band The Citadel, drummer Magnus "Dynamite" Ulfstedt, who works with Talisman, Royal Hunt, Eclipse, Mitch Malloy and Sha-Boom had played, and bassist Jörgen "Poe" Andersson of The Citadel and formerly Baltimoore and Bloodbound. The band is planning concerts and a new album. In 2008 the band was booked for the Sweden Rock Festival .

style

According to Andreas Kraatz from Musikexpress, “the British-tinged influences and borrowings are unmistakable in the band's style . Singer Dan Dark, at the age of 23, the oldest, and the other four complement each other perfectly and develop a virtuosity and a sense of rich melodies that lives up to their great role model Iron Maiden . Torch is a band with a future, as the mini-LP from '82 and the latest album from last year impressively demonstrated. ”However, he referred to them together with other then new metal bands such as Exciter , Metallica , Slayer , Tsunami , Bitch , Great White , Sortilège , Barón Rojo and Mercyful Fate as in their style and their "choice of musical means [...] - or even conventional patterns - [...] neither 'new' nor in the true sense of the word 'in'. Rather, these bands - like Iron Maiden or Def Leppard before them - are oriented towards tradition, towards the greats who wrote the relevant chapter of rock history. "Bitch, Metallica, Exciter and Torch are" just the talented tip of an iceberg, who makes himself noticeable with all his might ”. The “future of heavy metal” they are “certainly not in the sense that there is fundamentally new music to come. [...] It is the future of heavy metal insofar as it continues the tradition in this very future. "

According to Götz Kühnemund from Rock Hard , their first EP Fireraiser “was mentioned in the same breath for a long time as the debut works by Mercyful Fate, Sortilège, Evil or H-Bomb and stood for a NWOBHM- influenced, fresh, very passionate sound that also had an audible Accept -Kante noticed ”. He describes them as one of the “best thoroughbred metal bands of the eighties” and the “greatest moment of the band's career” was the release of their debut album, which “still often lands on my turntable today and stands out particularly vocally. Dan Dark was a really good front man who had found the perfect mix of rough heaviness and melody (similar to the early Bruce Dickinson ) and who would have been just as convincing in one of the big bands established at the time. The straight, but never clumsy song material on 'Torch' catches the ear straight away, but - comparable to the Saxon classics on ' Wheels Of Steel ', ' Strong Arm Of The Law ' and ' Denim And Leather ' - is also used over the Years hardly from. This is undoubtedly the immortal Spirit of Metal pioneer time, the counter jumps to the listener here now and can where you escape impossible than once infected. "While the debut D. Bomb Hartmann from Metal Hammer According overall" are recommended only in each Headbanger record collection "could, According to his colleague Metal Mike Bilm, the EP Bad Girls should please everyone "who also liked the 'Fire Razor!' EP and the 'Warlock' LP," said Joop Van Nijmweggan, "a super maxi and an above-average LP […] expected more. When listening to 'Elektrikiss' you never get rid of the feeling that the band didn't have enough song material when they recorded the LP and that they cobbled together the majority of the songs quickly. ”For him, the best pieces are“ without a doubt' Bad Girls' and 'Cut -Throat Tactics' both of which were on the last also not earth-shattering Maxi ". In addition, the running time at Limelight, for example, is “unnecessarily extended by unnecessarily faded in cheers”, but Electrikiss “does not even have a full half hour running time. This LP only collects plus points in terms of sound (very earthy and powerful) and the technical skill of the individual musicians, which also sets it apart from the majority of other Roadrunner releases; a record that is better than the rest of the trash is also far from good. ”For Holger Stratmann from Rock Hard, on the other hand,“ there was no question that this record would be good […], but you would have a little more can expect". He also complained about the short playing time and the extension through "unnecessary passages" as well as the pieces from the EP; the band “could have taken a little more time”. An editor of the magazine counts Torch among a “creative front of more or less successful and long-lived bands” from Sweden next to Oz (actually from Finland), Silver Mountain , Overdrive , Bathory , Candlemass , Madison and Europe ; The band confessed “especially with their masterpiece 'Warlock' for flawless Power Metal ” and thus probably “had a lasting influence on numerous active and successful compatriots”.

Dan Dark mentioned that “one of the guys from Machine Head likes our old records. That really surprised me. Ironically, along with Hammerfall , Fight , UDO and In Flames , Machine Head are a current influence of mine. "

Discography

  • 1982: Fireraiser (EP)
  • 1983: Torch (album, also known as Warlock )
  • 1984: Bad Girls (EP)
  • 1984: Electrikiss (album)
  • 2009: Dark Sinner (compilation of newly recorded versions of old pieces)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h The time is ripe . In: Rock Hard , No. 208.
  2. ↑ a b New members! , October 23, 2009, accessed March 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ a b Torch update , December 4, 2009, accessed March 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Andreas Kraatz: Metallica '84 . The new HM gods from the underground . In: Musikexpress , No. 5, May 1984, p. 55.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Torch , accessed March 26, 2013.
  6. ↑ a b c Götz Kühnemund : Torch . Torch . In: Rock Hard , No. 310, March 2013, p. 89.
  7. ↑ a b c D. Bomb Hartmann: Torch . Warlock . In: Metal Hammer , No. 4, May 1984, p. 56.
  8. ^ Pre-book a signed copy of Dark Sinner , February 21, 2009, accessed March 26, 2013.
  9. ^ A b Metal Mike Bilm: Torch . '' Ltd. Edition 12 '' EP '' . In: Metal Hammer , No. 11, November 1984, p. 69.
  10. ↑ Sweden Rock Festival , November 23, 2008, accessed March 26, 2013.
  11. ^ Andreas Kraatz: Metallica '84 . The new HM gods from the underground . In: Musikexpress , No. 5, May 1984, p. 53.
  12. ↑ Joop Van Nijmweggan: Torch . '' Elektrikiss '' . In: Metal Hammer , No. 12, December 1984, p. 65.
  13. ↑ Holger Stratmann: Torch . Elektrikiss . In: Rock Hard , No. 9, accessed March 28, 2013.