IT has taken longer than expected, but Glasgow rockers Halo Tora are finally ready to unleash their debut album.

The fivesome were plotting their first record last year, only for various elements to hold up the recording.

They’ve ended up releasing the album, Omni/One, through their own label East End Records, and will officially launch it with a sold-out show at Audio on Friday September 4.

“We went down a few avenues for making the album before coming to the conclusion that that wasn’t how we wanted to release it,” says singer/guitarist Chris Alexander.

“So we’ve set up our own label and invested our money in that.

"That’s been the most financially stable way of doing it, and that’s why it dragged out so much before we could release it.”

While Chris is reluctant to go too much into the full details of those other avenues, he does feel it’s important that young bands don’t get talked into deals they might later regret.

“Quite often bands are dangled carrots in front of them about recording albums,” he adds.

“Sometimes the temptation is to go down that route because on the surface it seems a really good idea, but where we were smart was realising in enough time that particular avenue wasn’t going to work.”

That also means the band can go back to focusing on music. Inspired by the likes of Scottish greats Mogwai and ferociously noisy Manchester act Oceansize, the quintet - Chris, singer/guitarist Ian McCall, pianist Ryan Connery, bassist Mark Young and drummer Chris McKeown - make creative widescreen rock that sounds gigantic.

There’s dashes of pop flair and clever piano melodies alongside the huge racket.

“I find that certain music or types of bands can get into a formula and that’s something we’ve actively tried not to do,” explains Chris, who‘s from Airdrie but now lives in Shettleston.

“Sometimes I might come in with a demo I’ve completely recorded in my house, or Ian will come along with a guitar riff and we’ll start work on that.

"Other times we’ll expand on a piano part from Ryan - the song Age of Terror started just from him playing on the piano.

"So we try to do as many different things as we can.”

While Omni/One, recorded at Beetroot Studios in Airdrie, is as heavy as you might expect, it also let the band show off a softer side.

They were able to experiment acoustically, and Chris is pleased at the balance they’ve struck.

“There’s a couple of tracks that we literally built up just from messing around with acoustic guitars,” he adds.

“That’s not something we do often, but one track, The Hangman, it developed out of nothing.

"We used a lot of studio tools to build it up, it’s the most surprising sound on the album because it’s really unconventional and it’s actually become one of my favourite tracks on the album.”

They’ve also found strong support within Glasgow’s hard rock community.

Although the city is best known for indie rock bands, there’s also a vibrant scene for acts that like it louder. Chris reckons the bands all support one another, and he’s hoping that Friday’s show will display some strength in depth, too.

“The bands in it are really supportive of one another,” he says.

“Bands like Mountains Under Oceans or A Sudden Burst Of Colour all go to other shows.

"That’s really good to see - in terms of how maybe the media and promoters see it, they’re maybe looking for bands with three minute chuck away songs, but the underground scene is really healthy.

“At Audio we’ve got Twin Heart from Kilmarnock supporting us.

"They’re a really good three-piece who we’ve known for a while - every time we’ve seen them they’ve been excellent.

“And there’s another band called Servant Sun who rehearse close to us, and we’ve been hearing their chops nearly every time we’re in - they sound great so we’re looking forward to seeing them properly live.”

While it took time for the first album to come out, Halo Tora are already hoping for a speedier sequel.

“We definitely don’t want to leave it long before the second record,” adds Chris.

“Ideally we want to start recording it by March. We’re also looking at a European tour next year, and getting out there. So we’ve got some big plans for touring.”

Halo Tora, Audio, Friday, sold out 7pm