Almost every time I'm browsing some metal music website, I come up with thrash metal bands I do not know. Be it news, reviews, videos or store selections. Most of these bands are newcomers, but sometimes such a band can be from 1980s. Thrash metal must currently be one of the hottest metal music genres. And look at the Peter Tikos cover artwork! Reminds about the uprising that just happened in Ukraine, eh?! Talk about a suitable timing... Well, history often repeats itself. During this fucking civilized age. Civilized my ass...

German Toxic Waltz are newcomers. They formed in early 2009 and got this album out, which is their debut release, in January 2014. Their style is semi-melodic thrash metal. It's influenced by both North American and German bands and styles. While they have some strong riffs, they can get very familiar at times. You know, Exodus riff there, Metallica one over there, Paradox stuff right there, and so on... However, these fellas take their influences from wide spectrum. This makes their music kind of characteristic, but nothing like unique.

Starting with an ominous-sounding acoustic intro, surely reminding of Death Angel, its melody continues on the title track. Catchy lead guitar melodies meet heavy metal riffing, before the song hits faster tide, including sharper riffing and tight beats. With its many tempo changes, the song shows the band's volition to go for polymorphous compositions, but gladly the song also manages to stay intact. 'World of Hate' owes a lot to Megadeth with its main riff, but also contains Havok style modernism. A non-distorted guitar interlude and it playing during a solo part brings another facet to the music. 'Suicide Squad' starts with oppressive melody à la Kreator. So, it has become clear that in Toxic Waltz, melodiousness meets straighter thrashing. The band know hot to alloy tight metal playing and groove together, also very evident on 'Suicide Squad'. However, TW are not stepping as far as to Pantera / later Sacred Reich and that kind of groove territory, but just playing a bit looser here and there.

Close to 39 minutes isn't that long, but sadly there's a few of bit bland songs, namely 'Toxic Hell', 'Green' and 'Morbid Symphony'. Interestingly, these songs are less melodic when compared to the rest. The band haven't been able to pile up enough of good riffs in these songs. Also, while the band's performances sound good, something is missing. There's no real, truly shattering aggressiveness or exploding energy here.

One thing that causes, at least some of this tepidness are bluntish guitar tones. They do not rip, tear or lash as would be desirable in thrash metal. Actually the guitars sound warm, so basically they are just too pretty for this music. But I how this albums sound in every other way. It's very organic, clear and sturdy. This doesn't suffer from '...And Justice for All' syndrome, for sure. The production job lets every nuance to be heard.

Me being an ex-drummer, I have to admire various beats here; anything from basic heavy metal stuff to galloping stuff and faster thrash tempos, and to more trickier drumming. The vocals are powerful bellowing, with some growls, barks and shrieks. Surely they are more thrashy than deathy. A lyrics line is often ended with various inhuman voices, adding some balls and emotion into the vocals. There's a vocal tribute to Mille of Kreator on the final track, too. The English pronunciation is good for a German band. And backing vocals are done in gang style, would you believe it, hah?!

Thrash metal is overdone, many people say. Well, anything is overdone, if it's done badly? I receive good music with open arms. This is a good enough start for a young band, but it still carries some less interesting songs. So, let's hope Toxic Waltz are coming with tastier stuff in the future and are able to drag all their live experience into a studio next time around. I expect they'll do all that.

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/27/2014 23:41