World Circus

Toxik have always been one of the most underrated thrash bands. Their insanely fast high octave riffs and inhuman falsetto vocals certainly helped them standout among the rest. Guitar virtuoso Josh Christian alongside the amazing vocal range of Mike Sanders, the crazy bass lines of Brain Bonini, and the technical drumming of Tad Leger was what made Toxik's debut effort "World Circus" one of the best thrash metal debuts of all time. Let's be real here. When it comes to thrash, Kreator, Destruction, Tankard, and all the other overrated thrash bands ain't got shit on Toxik, Watchtower, Sieges Even, Blind Illusion, Hexenhaus, Pyracanda and so on. Toxik and all those aforementioned bands really pushed the limits of thrash to the point where the limits could not be pusher any further. "World Circus" is a prime example of this, and if you were to look in a dictionary for the definition of "technical thrash", you would find the album cover of "World Circus".

The opening seconds of the record feature the beeping sound effects of a heart monitor. These beeping sound effects continue, until the riffs come alongside the unbelievable high notes of Mike Sanders. Then, complete and utter musical chaos ensues. "Heart Attack" is a furious technical thrash track which features some of the fastest thrash riffs ever. Most of the time, the music is hauling ass at well over 200BPM. This track is one hell of an opener, but that's just the beginning. "Social Overload" follows, with some complex guitar theatrics by Josh Christian. Christian uses lots of natural harmonics and utilizes the tremolo bar quite a bit. Some of the solos are so insane that it leads me to question if an actual human being is capable of such mastery. The bass work of Brian Bonini leaves me with my jaw on the floor. Brian's bass stands out super well in the mix, and he doesn't just mirror the guitar parts of Christian.

The next track is the title track, which begins with the sounds of a peaceful day at a carnival. However, the sound of a explosion follows, and the riff that follows is probably the most clever metal riff I have ever heard. The riff is basically a thrash version of the circus theme. The true highlight of this masterpiece however is Christian's extraordinary guitar solo! It is technical and fast. If there is one thing that Josh Christian does well, it is sweep picking! His sweep picking is right up there with Jason Becker and Marty Friedman! This track is perfection, truly state-of-the-art! "47 Seconds Of Sanity / Count Your Blessings" is a power ballad about the homeless. The moral of the story, when you think you have it bad in life, look at the unfortunate circumstances the homeless people deal with. This ballad is awesome, it is one of the best thrash ballads out there.

Toxik's "World Circus" is a classic for the ages. The technical riffs, solos, drumming, bass lines, falsetto vocals, and of course the Ed Repka album art is the perfect recipe for thrash greatness. Modern thrash bands take notes! This is how it is done, and I honestly would say that this is some of the fastest thrash ever conceived. The only thing I would change would be the reverb of the guitars, it's a little hard to hear clearly at times. This isn't too much of a problem however, and I won't deduct points because of this. I recommend this to fans of Watchtower, Sieges Even, Realm, Aspid, Hexenhaus, Deathrow, and Vendetta.

Highlights: "Heart Attack", "Social Overload", "Door To Hell", "World Circus", "47 Seconds Of Sanity / Count Your Blessings", "False Prophets", and "Victims"

Toxik - the name of this group is a synonym for "heavy metal tragedy", because the highly talented quartet botched its career in a very incomprehensible manner. Their debut had everything that it needed to blow my mind (and the minds of thousands of further maniacs as well), their second album was a little bit more technical and the third full-length... was never recorded. What happened to the combo of mastermind Josh Christian? I have no clue, but the disappearance of Toxik was a loss for the scene, even taking into account that the successor of "World Circus" had shown a few signs of weakness, at least from my point of view.

Toxik's debut delivered extremely energetic thrash metal with fairly melodic, high-pitched vocals. Very high-pitched, almost criminally high-pitched vocals. This style of singing did not meet everybody's taste, yet one could get used to it. Lead vocalist Mike Sanders did not sound like one of these eunuchs that kill any kind of power of so-called power metal albums. His extrovert style mirrored the high degree of passion that built the fundament of his performance. Moreover, he benefitted from the differentiated mix of the album. Due to the clear production, the slicing guitars were as sharp as his voice and the bass guitar also came to its own. Among other things, its flickering appearance on the fantastic "Social Overload" proved that bass player Brian Bonini made a good contribution to the full-length. Toxik were not interested in offering a filthy or blurred sound and this was the right decision in view of the high level of their musicianship. The result was that especially the A side sparkled with crystal clear fury and an admirable degree of dynamism.

In addition to the aforementioned "Social Overload", the haunting "Voices" with its electrifying main riff or the anti-drugs campaign "Pain and Misery" did not let me rest. The latter distinguished itself because of its special rhythmical approach. The Cavalera brothers were still strolling through the jungle and had not yet invented the tribal drumming, nevertheless, Toxik already offered a kind of prototype. Not to mention the straight opener. Its configuration was noteworthy. Although the formation was praised for its technical skills, the guys saw no reason to demonstrate their abilities in each and every song. They knew that they had to keep a close eye on the songs themselves. This, my friends, characterises mature, talented musicians. In those circumstances, it was only logical that the B side did not fail to provide further highlights. Let's pick out the vehement title track with its sarcastic lyrics or the casual yet powerful "Haunted Earth". Yet even the closer offered a captivating orgy of speed. It is therefore irrelevant which song you elect, you will not find a downer.

If you haven't heard this amazing debut so far, do yourself a favour and look out for a copy. Toxik had fantastic compositions, a nice artwork of Ed Repka, more than the necessary technical skills and their lyrics were much more intelligent than those of the vast majority of their competitors. What more do you want? A third album? Well, it seems as if Josh Christian and Mike Sanders are active again, but be aware of the fact that your wishes could come true. A lot of comebacks fell short of expectations, because the magic of the early days has been lost forever. Perhaps it is better just to listen to "World Circus" once again. It has withstood the test of time with great ease.

Man is a curious creature, more often than not playing the fool while thinking himself a genius in the process. In the late 80s there were many a thrash metal band trying to truly capture and even caricature this basic social axiom, culminating largely in a punk-infused version of the formerly dark and occult-obsessed original that took Malcolm "Scruff" Lewty to heart about metal lyrics being stupid. While there was nothing really wrong with taking this crossover approach, it was often done without any accounting for subtlety, much like a number of the crust punk bands who eat, drink, sleep and shit anarchy while eschewing musicality to varying degrees. For those who sought a new, intellectual angle for seeing man as the witless court jester that he is, there were few musical answers that did so in an overtly thrashing manner, and arguably the most intense and utterly insane of the pack was the New York spawned Toxik.

Naturally there are some bands who had a parallel musical approach to what Toxik was experimenting with, but often didn't match their lyrical savvy or didn't quite commit to ruining necks to the degree necessary to rival the hardliners coming out of the Bay Area or the Teutonic scene. Agent Steel's "Unstoppable Force" was arguably the only album from the same year to truly embody the same level of musicality and intensity, but said band was largely curious about conspiracy theories and science fiction, which I'm sure good old Scruff might not have dismissively referred to as stupid, but probably wouldn't have deemed worthy of "the cause". Watchtower, on the other hand, was on to generally similar lyrical subjects but never quite achieved the insatiable, thrill ride musical experience as captured on "World Circus", though they did land quite close to the ultra-progressive territory hit on Toxik's heavily lauded follow-up "Think This".

But historic diatribes aside, "World Circus" stands as an outright masterpiece for the issue that the previous paragraphs were dancing around, namely the musicality and intensity factor. When superimposed on the thrash style, intensity tends to lend itself to images of Dark Angel bursting out of the grave at light speed on "Darkness Descends" or Slayer cruising into the abyss on "Hell Awaits", or even bullets flying at high velocity in rapid succession as on Sodom's "Persecution Mania". The album in question manages to frequently hit such level of intensity, but also does so with a stalwartly power metal character, namely on "Door To Hell" and "False Prophets" where the same level of speed and fury comes with a high pitched banshee wail that matches that puts Warrel Dane and Geoff Tate on notice and a riff set that is melodically closer to the older Iron Maiden paradigm and sugared over with a lot of technical gymnastics.

The whole of this album doesn't really qualify as progressive in the same way as the one that followed it would, as even the slower material on here follows a fairly methodical, straight-line formula that is simply sexed up with fancier detailing. "Social Overload" presents a sort of upper mid-tempo rocker with a side order of Judas Priest that is more power metal than thrash, but still manages to come off as animated and busy in spite of playing off a simpler model. The lone grooving number "Pain And Misery" listens close to a slightly more frenetic answer to Crimson Glory's "Masque Of The Red Death", whereas the half-ballad "47 Seconds Of Sanity/Count Your Blessings" sort of hits like a more intricate answer to the quiet turned deadly format heard out of Nuclear Assault's take on the token ballad, which is a song that starts slow and then slays like the rest.

When this band is at their absolute best, however, is when they prove to be at their most out of control. The greatest occasions of glory to be found are, therefore, when this band makes their boldest attempts at breaking the sound barrier and speed/thrashing it up as if the hybrid nuclear power plant/circus tent on the cover were ushering in the end of the world. The opener "Heart Attack" and the slightly more elaborate closer "Victims" both accomplish this metronome destroying state of madness brilliantly, all the while retaining a strong, solid rhythmic precision that allows vocalist Mike Sanders to belt out those high notes at his leisure, and he definitely takes every occasion to do so. Anyone looking to mimic the vocals on either of these two songs will have their work cut out for them, not to mention a few broken blood vessels in their heads if they're not careful.

Ultimately, this is just a damn fun album that also manages to be politically aware in a way that will satisfy all of those damned punk rockers who are too busy moping about how much life sucks to enjoy a good Sci-Fi or horror flick. Corrupt world politics, pollution, nuclear annihilation, and all that other stuff is here for all to savor, though Sanders' vocals are so wildly attention grabbing in themselves that even if he was reciting cooking recipes the masses would still be sending their fists into the air in approval. Yea, there is something in this album for just about everyone, save those looking for a modern sound given that the production on here is about as overtly 80s as it gets. Ever wonder what Agent Steel's and Dark Angel's marriage might birth? Give this a listen and call me in the morning after you find your head.

Toxik are another of those 80s bands who, for some inexplicable reason, did not quite reach the level of success that their music was more than capable of. A frenetic, screaming debut of NY thrash and speed metal, World Circus is an explosion of hyper riffing and intensity that often borders on ridiculous due to Mike Sanders' agonizing shrieks. But the riffs...oh, the riffs here are consistently busy and more often than not, as catchy as an STD in a third world slum. Of their two full-length releases, this is the more crude and barbaric, favoring the relentless speed metal of the day, yet the roots of the band's future progression were already being laid.

My first exposures to the album as a teen were mixed, as I considered the band to be nearly out of control and the production of the album and screaming vocals often hurt my ears. Repeated listens, however, have assured me that it was simply a lack of preparation for what I was to hear, and this is actually a decent effort. But one does have to get past the vocals, which are far more uncouth than a Halford or Tate and often too shrill and self-indulgent for their own good, or for the songs.

"Heart Attack" is an accurate description for its own riffs and the cruel sorcery of its siren-like chorus wailing, gleeful and mischievous speed, which mocks at you from the proverbial big top of the album's cover art. As kinetic as the track feels upon first contact, it's actually a sequence of tightly controlled rhythms over which Sanders' antics work rather well. "Social Overload" has a pretty badass verse, with Sanders crying off into the background, the bass of Brian Bonini popping along under the mean and dirty rhythms, and an almost mechanical aptitude for destruction. "Pain and Misery" is perhaps a little too shrill, though Sanders offers a crystalline performance over the low, grooving hard rock breaks of the verse. "Voices" features some rather interesting guitar lines, sporadic and melodic and a nice foreshadowing for the direction they'd often move on Think This. "Door to Hell" is one of my personal favorites here, for the excellent riffing that opens the track and the ascending melody which breaks into its full throttle charging.

Following is the memorable title track, which features an intro sample of nuclear winds that erupts into a metallized carnival melody, and then a thrust into the delicate balance of complex chaos that inaugurates the chorus. A lot of wild leads follow over some solid mid-paced thrashing, and yet another circus slaughterhouse. At this point, Toxik are perhaps wise to offer a great acoustic instrumental "47 Seconds of Sanity" and then a pretty tight track in "Count Your Blessings", where Sanders really shines like a glaring warning from the depths of the psyche. "False Prophets" delivers a fast flurry of axe wizardry, and "Haunted Earth" is another of the album's very best tracks, with great backing shout vocals that build over its excellent post-apocalyptic street level riffing. "Victims" is as wild and riotous as anything else you'll find on World Circus, ending the debut with a loud power thrashing bang.

I still can't say today that I love the sound of this record completely, but it certainly does wonders to elevate the high pitched lead squeals and vocal squeals that dominated the band's sound and gave them a notoriety within the metal underground. This was a band with enough raw technical ability that guitar university freaks and thrashers alike would answer to their thrilling tones, and World Circus was a pretty good introduction that the band would later develop in nearly every category. Not every song here is equally catchy, but if you like bands that are long on the riffing and screaming then I very much advise you to give Toxik a listen.

Highlights: Heart Attack, Door to Hell, World Circus, Count Your Blessings, Haunted Earth

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

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.

Toxik. All you that you need to know about the speed/thrash metal with a great weight of technique is concentrated in this band and mostly on their debut album. This is where the speed and the melody collide in a bunch of riffs and solos. The years in which we are with this album are the best ones in the history of metal and Toxik made their presence know through these ten tracks of blasting, furious and hyper dynamic fast metal. The thrash metal is filtrated through pure speed and headbanging parts with lots of riffs.

The vocals by the mythical Mike Sanders are the best if we are talking about shrieks. I think that very few singers had the same power from the throat like this one has. His style is truly original and unmistakable; it’s always truly powerful and very high in tonality. It’s not a thing that everybody can enjoy, but once you get into his style, everything becomes clearer and surely more enjoyable. The band is always truly compact and relentless. The drums are compulsive, neurotic and the guitars follow the same path under the sign of the more classical assault of riffs. If the opener, “Heart Attack”, is on pure up tempo with awesome solos and rhythmic parts, the following “Social Overload” is more mid-paced with a restart by the middle.

The production is something great to me. It has a strange sort of reverberation for the guitars and exalts the dry out drums sound. The main role, anyway, it’s for the guitars and the technique of Josh Christian, one of the most talented guitarists ever in this gene. The riffs are always precise and the solos are a mix of various techniques, from shredding to tapping, tremolo picking and I don’t know what else. “Pain and Misery” and “Voices” are less impulsive and the tempo on these songs is less fast. The guitars always give the right, catchy melodic lines and the vocals follow them under the sign of pure high tonalities. The bass is always present and like in “Voices” we can find good duets with the guitars.

There are various stop and go and even if the tempo is not so fast like in the opener, the tension never goes down. With “Door To Hell” we are back to speed with faster palm muting riffs and lots of tempo changes. The galloping, hyper technical riffs and the vocals are amazing. The title track is remarkable for the always intense guitars work and the fast bass drum parts while “47 Seconds of Sanity/Count Your Blessings” is a semi-ballad with beautiful melodies and a thrash/speed restart. “False Prophet” is insanity through two minutes of semi up tempo parts and blasting solos and the “Haunted Earth” follows more or less the same style but, this time, with more groove.

The last “Victims” should be very fast and so it is. It’s very similar to the opener for the galloping riffs and the always present melodies even during the fast parts. The choruses are perfectly stuck. A special credit should be given for the intelligent, corrosive and still actual lyrics about politics and society. This album is a very good example of how thrash/speed/power metal was meant to be done back in those years and now it’s rightly a cult among the metalheads.

Let me describe this with an equation: King Diamond+Thrash+Flashy guitar work-Satanism= THIS. Okay let me explain that: First, put King Diamond on vox and remove whatever balls he has; Then, add a thrash band with flashy guitar work; Finally, Take away the satanic lyrics and you get Toxik. Mike Sanders puts Sean Killian to shame for sheer hilarity factor. Hell, even Erik Knutson has trouble reaching the falsettos! I dare you to put on this album and not laugh for ONE song.

In all honesty folks, we have a serious contender for 'best melodic thrash album EVAR' along with Doomsday for the Deceiver, Spreading the Disease and Eternal Nightmare. Let's analyze things one by one, shall we?

1)The drummer is damn fine and mighty talented too. He doesn't overwank with the fills and the drums ain't too loud.

2)The bass player is on-par with Frank Bello, he makes a boring instrument interesting. "World Circus" should prove his worth. And you know what? It's AUDIBLE! You can hear the bass in every track, clear as day.

3)The guitarist is flashier than Heathen at times. Especially "World Circus", the sweeps put Synyster Ga(y)tes and the other 'metuhlkore shreddahz' to shame. Yet the highlights are, more often than not, the RIFFS! They are every bit as legendary as Doomsday's or Spreading the Disease's riffs. If you don't headbang to these riffs, well it's safe to say that you're no longer "AMONG THA LIVIIING!"(hehehe).

4)Finally, the vox. If you think Euro-power metal takes the whole "I have no nuts!" philosophy to heart, then meet Mike "The Modern-day Castrato" Sanders. His shrieks are most impressive, though not of the Osegueda/Araya/Schmier school of rape victim screams (you know the ones), but damn. Although he doesn't actually hit very many high notes, his falsettos make you think his wing-dang-doodle was cut off pre-puberty. Every track highlights his magnificent voice.

Put them all together (and with the best production the 80s could give) and you have the very definition of awesometastic(tm).

The songs are pretty much speed/thrash mania. "Heart! Heart! Heart! Heart! Heart ATTACK", best chorus EVAR! That song was responsible for pretty much all the hilarity I experienced. I dunno, hearing that riff while the singer shrieks "Pain is no more..." or something to that effect, is just plain funny. "Social Overlord" comes next, it's slower than "Heart Attack" but it's effective. "Pain and Misery" is NOT horrible like some reviewers said, it's pretty average but still OK. "Voices(voices)Voices(voices)" is a wacky little speed/thrasher. The Castrato awes us with his shrill voice(har!). You know I could go on and on and on and on about how awesome every song is, but I'll just do one more.

"WAAAAAAAAAARLD SIRRKAHS!" is the absolute best song on this album. From that random intro BOOM to the circus riff, the shrieks to the sweeps, every second is pure auditory orgasm. The bass is fantastic, especially on the pre-chorus. The part where the bass ascends and descends, Brian Bonini is about the same kind of asshole as Thomas Miller in that part! And the DRUMS! Oh my GAWD! I would personally track him down and replace my limbs with his, just so I can feel better. Now THAT is drumming! Thank you Tad Ledger! Josh Christian, as I said before, puts every modern sweep picker to shame. Synyster Ga(y)tes, blow this out of your ass! Matt Heafy and Corey too. THIS is how you sweep! Don't sweep just because! or for "teknickal cred"! You sweep for MELODY! Don't believe me? Pick up "Speed Metal Symphony" and thank me later.

Alright enough of me ramblin' on and on, let's cut to the chase: Highlights? Every damn song! But "World Circus" is the best song of the album; Worth your money? Hell yes!; Pick up the re-release? Do you even need to ask?

It's too bad they only made another album, they could've been legendary.

This is a pretty interesting album - it's thrash, no it's speed, no it's power metal... and when you're not wondering that, you're probably going nuts over the just slightly twisted riff work to be found here. This band manages to be pretty technical without losing a good sense of songwriting with a fair dose of groove... throw in some nice fucking lead guitars, and you will be banging your head as if up from the dead. There's one abominative track here, and the rest is quite awesome.

Then again, the most overwhelming aspect of the album is the vocalist - this guy makes Halford sound like Peter Steele, he's a fucking shrieker! He doesn't hit any REALLY high notes, but pretty much does the whole album in a falsetto. If you like that kind of stuff, you'll dig this.

We have some really fucking fast songs here, like Heart! Heart! Heart! Heart! Heart attack!!! This is easily the fastest song on here, coming in at like 268 beats per minute after the initial riff-set. Then, the more restrained "Social Overload" with its really catchy main riff... okay, then we have "Pain and Misery", which sucks inexplicably. I have no idea why it's on here, it sounds nothing like the rest of the album. The second half of the song is okay, but that does not redeem the awful Vulgar Display of bad half-thrash riffs.

Then, back to Voices (voices! voices! voices!), which is more classic speed/thrash. Then, the other really great highlight of the album is "Count Your Blessings", especially for that amazing intro - this is lead guitar that would make Tipton and Downing stand up and pay attention - really fucking great stuff.

Total speed metal to be found here - if you like it loud and shrieky and filled with blazing solos all over the place, complete with really fucking fast and interesting riffs too, then this is the band for you.

[correction: yeah Mike Sanders does hit some REALLY high notes. He tops out at around 1770 Hz, which is just about an A note that's nearly three octaves above middle C. See the title track. Halford's highest ever was almost a G#, a 1610, for those of you wondering.]