Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 09:50 PM by Nikos Nakos
Toxik was created with the name Tokyo in 1985 by Josh Christian and Lee Ervin, but due to legal problems as another band already existed with that name they had to change it to (most fitting to be honest to their sound) Toxik. Unfortunately, they disbanded in 1992 after releasing only two albums and reunited in 2007 just to re-issue their 2 albums. In the realm of Progressive, Technical, Progressive Thrash or Tech Thrash or whatever the hell is called, Toxik are the only ones who looked in the eyes the Texans Watchtower, hence the term ‘the Reply of New York to Watchtower’ who accompanied them for years.These two bands had also similar lyrical themes. Speaking of other bands that sounded close enough to Toxik, we can’t ignore the cult acts of Blind Illusion or Realm. All the greatness (or any quality for the modest ones) that distinguishes the New Yorkers should be sought without excesses in the intelligence, artistic insight and ability of Josh Christian. Technically flawless and synthetically high leveled he marked thrash sound but never took credit for it nor redeemed this offer of his. As a debut album of Toxik is based on (not always) the fast and complex riffs of Christian, the sturdy rhythm section and the frantic, screaming vocals of Mike Sanders. Mike Sanders was not just a great vocalist but without any exaggeration he was one of the best Thrash performers of the late 80’s. in fact only Holy Terror’s Keith Dean seemed to be a better singer than Sanders to me. His high-pitched (still melodic in a way) vocals was extra ordinary and remarkable bringing in mind the ‘Steroid Throat’ of Agent Steel’s John Cyriis. The compositions that have strong social / political lyrics are not inferior in speed and aggression while the complexity of the songs is not the end in itself nor sacrificing the flow of the compositions. In this album, there is perhaps the most recognizable song the opening track “Heart Attack” and stand out songs “Door To Hell”, “47 Seconds Of Sanity / Count Your Blessings” and “False Prophets”.Notable also that the production was originally assigned to Dan Johnson known from his work with Agent Steel, but finally selected Tom Morris and the famous Morrisound Studios, plus the cover was crafted by Ed Repka something that screams from miles away, while after end of their tour to promote the disc vocalist Mike Sanders left Toxik for unknown reasons and was replaced by Charlie Sabin.
It was released in 7th of July 1987 through Roadrunner Records.
