Back in the late 1980s Toranaga were one of the prime movers on the UK thrash metal scene, leading the pack alongside the likes of Sabbat, Onslaught and Xentrix. 

Two acclaimed albums – Bastard Ballads, released on Peaceville Records and God’s Gift, released on Chrysalis Records – and live shows with an array of legendary bands including Manowar, Venom and Saxon, should have seen Toranaga rising to dizzying heights. However, fate and misfortune intervened and the band slipped into a lengthy hiatus. 

There was a brief rebirth under the name The Bastard Son Of Toranaga, with the punishing Righteous Retribution album emerging in 2013, but this incarnation soon dissolved. It was 2024 before a new Toranaga line-up was unveiled, under the name Toranaga UK; lead, as ever, by indefatigable vocalist Mark Duffy. A superb EP, A New Order, was released in 2025 and Toranaga UK are not about to retreat quietly back into the darkness. Since their return the band has toured with Onslaught, Xentrix and Riot City and performed at prestigious festivals like Headbangers Open Air, Helicon and HRH Spring Break – and underlining the fact that they are here to stay.