Torus

By their own admission, there was a time when it didn’t seem likely Torus would be standing here at all to introduce their debut album to the world. That in itself is a surprising opening statement to tumble from the mouth of frontman and band mastermind Alfie Glass as he and his bandmates sit in the front room of his home outside Milton Keynes. Torus’s every move to date has been met with intrigue and acclaim – ahead of critically-lauded debut EP ‘Sail’, key tastemakers in the shape of Kerrang! and Classic Rock were championing their “brand of zero-bullshit hard rock” that delivers “gargantuan riffs and thick, monstrous grooves” in the vein of rock greats such as Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age and Smashing Pumpkins. Indeed, if the name Alfie Glass sounds even more familiar to you, it’s probably because Black Sabbath guitar legend Tony Iommi was praising the six-stringer’s chops on TV talent show Guitar Star when Glass was just 12 years old.

Having started life as a one-man bedroom project, Torus’ lineup would soon be completed by bassist Harry Quinn in 2020 and, latterly, drummer Jack Orr in early 2022, the trio coalescing around a shared desire to create music that could bang heads while moving feet, despite their differing musical backgrounds and influences that touch on everything from desert rock, to psychedelic prog and punk. “We all come from different places, but have a shared vision for the music we want to write,” Orr nods. 

Their rapid, dizzying ascent has not come without its challenges, however, and Torus’s aptly self-titled debut album, released August 30 via MNRK UK, stands as a document of and testament to surviving a time so trying that it would have broken up many lesser bands – a “rollercoaster of emotions and struggles from a year which had many ups and downs and the mental battle of trying to work it all out whilst feeling isolated and disconnected to things close to you”, as the trio put it themselves. 

“A lack of communication with each other lay at the heart of our problems,” Glass says today with honest transparency. “We all want the same things for Torus, but we weren’t acting like a band; instead of talking to each other about the things we were individually and collectively going through, we were bottling them up. We let things build up and get between us because we didn’t know how to talk to each other.”

Instead, what they did have was writing the songs that comprise Torus to act as an outlet for the emotions and a means of indirect communication with each other as three young men navigated the complexities of growing up – individually, and collectively. “We were all writing songs and lyrics that expressed the things we weren’t able to say to one another,” nods Glass, who points to the track The Overload – described by the band as about “the feeling of being disconnected to a loved one, desperate for that emotional connection you desire” with its lyric of ‘All alone, I see you sinking through all the pain’ – as the defining moment that moved the trio to finally open up to each other and set their sights on the future, burying any bullshit of the past. 

“I think we had to get to these extreme moments to see that we are going to be that band of brothers,” Quinn notes, pointing to a make-or-break meeting that proved once and for all the trio’s commitment to each other. “We all wanted the band to feel like that the whole time. We just needed to say it to one another.”

“There’s always going to be something that comes up in life that tests each of us individually and as a band, but I think now we feel like we can get through it all as a team and as friends,” Orr adds.

Torus, then, is a coming of age record in more ways than one. And as with all great rock music, a simmering tension sits at its heart. It’s there in the to-and-fro of the Foo Fighters-evoking album-opener and lead single Avalanche (featuring guest vocals from The Blue Stones). It’s there in the rapid-fire urgency that propels Downfall, and the swift gear-shifts of Into The Clear. Feelings of confusion, paranoia, frustration, overwhelm and burn-out bubble throughout, boiling over once and for all in the tightly-wound album-closer Speed Trial, the emotional nadir of which explodes with screamed vocals: ‘Been feeling like shit, why do I cry, should of opened my eyes / Been feeling like shit, why do I cry, should of opened my eyes ‘Cause I’m sick of feeling like shit, how many times, how many times’. 

“Speed Trial is a little different for us because it’s such a heavy song,” Quinn says. “I think that reflects how difficult a time I was going through when it was coming together. It’s a very personal track to me, and allows me to let some of that anger out about things that were getting on top of me.”

All of which makes Torus hit as hard emotionally as it does musically – and make no mistake, the trio never shy away from launching sonic haymakers that belie the band’s streamlined lineup. “The sound of Torus is one that we aim to take simple, catchy hooks with good songwriting at their heart, and then make them heavy,” Glass explains. “I think Torus is the best version and clearest realisation of that aim that we’ve ever achieved.”

Central to Torus’ ambitions, however, isn’t simply their own success. Through the band’s community initiative Headcharge, they understand that a rising tide lifts all boats, and are looking to help elevate the scene from which they were born. Now in its fifth year, multiple live events and supporting fanzines will take place under its banner across the band’s local Milton Keynes, Northampton and Bedford regions. 

“Our goal with Headcharge is to help develop the scene for young people to discover new music, and to help give local bands the platform to perform that isn’t readily available to them,” Glass says. “If you come from a big city like London, you’re afforded so many more opportunities than bands that come from towns such as Milton Keynes, so we want to help try to level the playing field. We aim to make them 16-plus shows, and for them to be as affordable as possible, so that they are for everyone. It’s important to us that Torus can help give something back, to help create a musical community, and to give bands a chance to grow alongside us.”

It’s all the more reason why the rise of Torus will be so exciting, and important, to the UK rock scene. For three young men who were once unsure what tomorrow would hold, where they go from here is limitless. 

City Dog

At just 17 years old, City Dog quickly made a name for themselves in the local music scene, becoming known for "turning a mosh pit into an absolute frenzy" at their own sold-out shows. By 18, they had already shared stages with legendary acts like the Buzzcocks, Bob Vylan, and The Wytches, and joined Surfbort on their European tour. The momentum didn’t stop there—upon returning, City Dog released a string of new tracks, collaborating with artists like acclaimed rapper SBK and Dominic Keen of Death In Vegas. In 2023, they dropped their single "A Circus" via Small Pond Label, and in 2024, they released their debut EP, followed by a hugely successful UK headline tour and sold-out European dates.