Torch's Ian Greg: "We didn't know if there was still a place for our type of metal"...

A few reviews are starting to surface for the new Torch album Reignited now – are you nervous about the reception for the record? “Absolutely! We felt that we’ve made a strong album, but we didn’t know if there was still a place for our type of metal. Maybe everyone had moved on to other, more “modern” metal. By the reactions so far it seems that there’s still a lot of people out there that like our type of “old school”, more traditional metal. The feedback so far has been overwhelming”.

That’s great to hear! We’re certainly very keen on Reignited here at Sentinel Daily HQ. COVID notwithstanding, how differently did you approach the recording of this album to, say, your debut album from 1983? “The recording process was very similar to our debut album. We wanted to use a traditional approach with loud amps, microphones, real drums et cetera instead of going for plugs and triggers. We simply felt that there’s more “life” to a traditional recording. The big difference is that we had more time this time around. The other big difference is that we had the opportunity to work with Jacob Hansen (Primal Fear, U.D.O., Evergrey et al). He took our “old school” recordings and added all his modern wizardry. The result is exactly the balance between old and new that we were looking for. Jacob is a genius!

He certainly put in a man of the match performance for you on the album! Thinking back, It was quite hard to spread the word in the early eighties, especially internationally if magazines like Kerrang! didn’t feature you. Are you embracing modern social media platforms to help publicise the new record? Or are you happy to use tried and tested ‘traditional’ methods like interviews with magazines such as Sentinel Daily? Do you forsee a time, especially post COVID, when bands deal direct over platforms such as Zoom to talk to fans? “Yes, it was challenging back in the eighties but what was cool back then was that you had all these fanzines and tape swapping going on. We’d be happy to use any type of platform to reach our fans. I think a combination of “tried-and-tested” and newer platforms like Social Media is perfect. Different fans have different preferences, and you want to reach them all. I’m just like that. I follow all my favourite bands on Facebook and Instagram, but I still really enjoy reading a traditional rock magazine. Yes, I think that Covid-19 has made a lot of people aware of the potential of video conferencing like Zoom. I definitely think that bands should embrace this technology. We’d be happy to do it”.

Tell us a bit more about the recording of the album – and what was the motivation behind releasing a new record after such a break? “After playing a couple of shows we felt that we didn’t just want to be a “nostalgia act”. We wanted to bring out something new. I had a couple of songs that I had written, but I wasn’t sure about the quality of the songs. When I showed them to the rest of the band and they added their ingredients – they sounded like Torch songs. That was very inspirational to me and the rest of the songs came quite easily. Steve (Streaker, drums) was the main provider of riffs back in the days. He also got inspired and provided two songs (Cradle To Grave and In The Dead Of Night). We’re lucky enough to be rehearsing in Håkky (guitars)’s recording studio. Once we felt a song was ready, we recorded it. When we had enough songs we got in touch with Jacob Hansen, and sent them to him for the mixing and mastering”.

Seems to have been an effective modus operandi! Now, Here’s your chance to sum up in one sentence what each song on the new record means to you:

Knuckle Duster – “A strong opener to show that we mean business!”
Collateral Damage – “A bass riff that then turned into this cool Accept meets Megadeth song’.
All Metal, No Rust – “Our tribute to good old-fashioned metal”.
Feed The Flame – “Also a tribute to metal, but much faster!”
In The Dead of Night – “A slower, but heavy song about having dual personalities”.
Cradle To The Grave – “A short, in-your-face stomper a la Warlock“.
Snake Charmer – “A cool dirty riff, talkbox and even a real gong!”
Intruder – “A mighty song with Dan Dark (vocals) at his best and an amazing guitar solo”.
To The Devil His Due – “The heaviest and longest song we’ve ever made. Like a slow steam roller”.

When things start getting back to normal, will there be plans to support the album with live shows? “Absolutely! We can’t wait to get back on stage! It feels great to be able to give our fans a mix of new songs and old classics. Just give us a call, we’re there!”

Will do! Anything else you think the readers of Sentinel Daily should know about the album? “We’re very happy with the album. Our aim was to take “old-school” metal and add a more modern sound to it. I think we achieved that. We even went “old school” with the cover, when we asked Thomas Holm (Mercyful Fate) to paint it – rather than going for digital”.

Well, we’re certainly fans of the old school here and I think it’s safe to say you pulled it off as far as Sentinel Daily is concerned! Thanks for your time! “You’re welcome!”