Band: Carry the Torch
From: Pensacola, Florida
Their formation story:
(Moses, vocals): “First of all, we’re a straight edge band from Pensacola representing From Within Records. We started practicing last March, but our original drummer bailed on us, and we were on hiatus for months. We hadn’t even written one song at that point.
"In May, I reached out to an old high school buddy; we got together, wrote a four-song demo, and played our first show within two months of officially getting back together.
“The band was my idea and was originally supposed to be an In My Eyes worship-style band, but because of our drummer’s playing style, we reconvened and changed our sound to something more along the lines of New Age Records-style hardcore.”
Their sound in their own words:
“Because our guitarist Jackson and I are into similar veins of hardcore, we wanted to write stuff similar to Outspoken, Inside Out, Beyond, Integrity — specifically the In Contrast of Sin EP — and Judge. There aren’t many bands doing New Age revival-style hardcore right now, so we wanted to be a catalyst for that.
“We wanted it to be moshable without having breakdowns the entire time. Mostly just high-energy dogpiles with cool dance parts.”
Latest release info:
“We released our demo on October 2, 2026. In terms of the writing, I’d say it’s very bass-driven overall. We wanted the bass to be very loud and more dynamic in the mix, similar to Outspoken’s The Current LP.
“We’re a straight edge band, but most of my lyrics aren’t directly about straight edge in particular. I focus more on topics like freeing yourself from material possessions and battling crippling social anxiety in my life. I’m also a devotee of Hinduism and Krishna consciousness, so while we’re not directly a ‘Krishna band,’ there are themes relating to that. My experience practicing Bhakti yoga comes through in some tracks. Those are just a couple of the lyrical motifs on the demo, but it gets more elaborate throughout parts of the EP.
“My vocal style is also very analogous to John Coyle of Outspoken and Christoph Dornick of the German band Spawn.”
Future plans:
“We plan on releasing a 7" sometime in March featuring six new songs, with physical copies available. We also plan on touring the East Coast in support of the release.”
What other bands from their region should we check out?
“First and foremost, I’d like to shout out Statement of Pride, Burning Strong, Strikeforce, Milestone, Beskar, and Malice at the Palace — all Pensacola bands representing straight edge.
“For Florida hardcore in general, shout out Ecostrike, Blockade, Point of Contact, Envision, Seed of Pain, xELEGYx, Bind, Put It Aside, Collateral, and Exit Life.”
The 2026 demo is available on cassette via From Within Records.
Carry the Torch on social media: Instagram
Tagged: carry the torch
