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BLO.TORCH BIOGRAPHY
Formed in 1996 by guitarists Hassan and Marvin. A stable line-up was formed in february 1997 with John (drums), Sander (bass) and Michel (vocals). The debut demo 'The plot sickens...' was recorded August 1997 at the Excess Studio in Rotterdam, Holland. On this demo the band displays a diverse mix of differeent styles within the metal genre. Powerful thrash roots, infected by death and black metal influences. Death grunts, black screams and melodic vocals combined with poems of sickness leave you craving for more!
The demo 'The plot sickens...' has already received much acclaim even before it's release. It awarded the band with a placement in the semi finals of the Metal Bash, among others, a competition launched by Holland's leading metal magazine Aardschok for up and coming talent, where they were selected from over 300 bands. Immediately after its release, the demo was made 'demo of the month' in Aardschok (May '98).
1998 was a good year for Blo.torch. Besides the 'demo of the month'-review, the band got great national and international reviews in Hardside, Hell Spawn, Chaos Mag, Deftone, Rock Hard and Terrorizer among others.
In October drummer John was replaced by Pascal and in a short time, the band was back in full fighting force, more motivated than ever. The excellent review in Terrorizer caught the eye of the English label Earache Records. The label was interested in signing Blo.torch for their sublabel Wicked World Records. A few weeks later Blotorch was signed.
The band presented their self-titled debut album (again recorded at the Excess Studio) to the world October 1999. It got excellent reviews from all over the world, recognizing the band's international potential. Many liveshows followed in 2000, promoting the band and the album. Among others, Blo.torch participated in the Metalfest 2000, showing what they're made of to 1000+ audience 3 nights in a row.
Doing support slots for Anathema, My Dying Bride, Testament and Altar a.o. and headline gigs all over The Netherlands proved that the band is ready for international success.
Sadly, in 2001 Wicked World and Blo.torch parted ways. Since then the band has remained unsigned. The rest of the year Blo.torch kept a low profile and did not hit the stage for a year. In stead the band kept to the rehearsal room creating new material, fine-tuning their style and coming up with a new battleplan.
The new demo called "Plan B" was recorded in February 2002, the third visit to the Excess Studio for Blo.torch so far. The demo contains 4 brand new tracks and presents a well balanced diet of thrash and deathmetal, guaranteed to leave you hungry for more! Tracklist: Razorjob, The Ties That Blind, Vermin Circle, Scattered Ashes Lay.
Bad luck struck Blo.torch again a few months after recording "Plan B", when due to personal differences the band split with singer Michel. The search for a sucessor started immediately as the band wants to hit the stage again with their new material as soon as possible and hopes to find a new label.
September 2002 a new singer was found in Chris van der Valk, also active in as a singer in Instinct. Chris has already left his mark on the band, contributing to the songwriting in the Blo.torch tradition but adding his own twist to each new story.
BLO.TORCH GENRES Melodic Death/Thrash Metal
BLO.TORCH ORIGIN Netherlands (Leidschendam), formed in 1996
BLO.TORCH CURRENT RECORD LABEL Unsigned
BLO.TORCH STATUS Active
BLO.TORCH CURRENT LINE-UP Hassan Moechtar - Guitar
Rory Hansen - Guitar
Sander Koole - Bass (ex-Cypher)
Pascal Rappailles - Drums
Chris van der Valk - vocals (ex-Redeemer (Hol), Inquisition (Hol), Reborn (Hol))
BLO.TORCH PREVIOUS LINE-UP John - Drums
Michel de Wilde - Vocals
Marvin Vriesde - Guitar (Severe Torture, Dew-Scented)
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