Band's List Thrash Speed Toxik World Circus

Just when the world was about to crown Watchtower as the “be all, end all” of technical thrash, somewhere in New York a young band called Toxik had other ideas. Since the east coast was already sprouting up with thrash and crossover bands at an unbelievable rate, it required more than just genuine and original ideas to bring them anywhere close to even being remotely noticed. After carefully studying the music scene, they finally released an album called “World Circus” with the cover art showing a joker blowing up a circus with a remote controlled bomb. So, what was the end result? The debut turned out to be a ripper as a result of which Toxik have received substantial critical acclaim in the years to come and are still regarded by thousands as the only band that defied all parameters of the very word technical. Toxik were very much in the vein of their Texan counterparts, Watchtower with a lot more emphasis on speed.

The interesting fact about this record is that the musicians who played on it must have either started off with music right from the point when they stepped out of their respective mother’s wombs or they are fully certified freaks of nature. Have you ever come across a vocalist who sings the entire album in high pitched falsetto? Here, the man in question and also behind the microphone, Mike Sanders pulls it off with ease and shows no signs of discomfort. Now, that by all means should have made him worthy of an eyebrow raise by the Guinness Records. The guitarist on the other hand is a guy called Josh Christian who is by far one of the most technically proficient six stringers ever in the fraternity of heavy metal. His insanely unbelievable fretwork makes well known guitarists such as Marty Friedman and Kirk Hammett sound like they’ve just joined guitar tutorial classes. The bassist and drummer too are exceptionally good with their instruments and make good use of their talents.

When people say there are no filler tracks around, you can be rest assured there ain’t any. Each song in here showcases the best abilities each band member possessed. The opener “Heart Attack” for instance shows Sander’s range and his ability to shift from a normal pitch to a deafening wail. This track by the way is one of the fastest ones around and a great one to kick off with. “Social Overload” has some well written basslines and riffs that are slightly reminiscent of Flotsam and Jetsam’s “Desecrator” but slightly mid paced and not as frenzied. The third track is the slowest one and perhaps the only one to drift towards groove, an idea which would later transform into a global phenomenon and bring forth countless bands. Josh Christian pulls of unbelievable solos on almost all the songs, but the crème de la crème is undoubtedly “World Circus” where the popular circus theme is turned into a staggering thrash riff!!!! Even the semi acoustic, “Count Your Blessings” suggests that even heavy metal ballads can kick serious ass. Drumming is perhaps most notable on the furious “False Prophets”, “Door To Hell” which shows a certain Laaz Rockit like catchiness and also “Victims”, where the drummer really bangs the skin the hardest.

For a year, that was 1987 this is one of the most original pieces of music ever created. It basically combined elements of hard thrash, the melodies of several traditional metal bands, most of which were signed up with Metal Blade and most importantly the technical prowess of masters such as Watchtower, Blind Illusion and Wisconsin maniacs Realm. The follow up of these New Yorkers, “Think This” had better songwriting, but this still remains their best in my opinion and is therefore highly recommended for fans of old school, power and technical thrash metal.