Missed Album Review: Toxik – Dis Morta

Style: Technical/Progressive Thrash Metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Vektor, Coroner, Voivod, Megadeth
Review by: Andy
Country: United States-NY
Release date: 5 August, 2022

Progressive thrash metal is hard to review, and I don’t necessarily mean that actually scribing my thoughts is particularly difficult. No, basically two things happen: A new great tech thrash band immediately jumps over 20k listeners rendering it outside the scope of the blog, or Francesco scoops it up to review before the album is even on my radar. Toxik, too, at the time of Dis Morta’s release were over 20k monthly listeners and have only recently just barely dipped under the threshold, so not only do I get to review awesome tech thrash for the first time, I get to write about arguably my single favorite thrash metal album since Vektor’s untouchable Terminal Redux. 

Toxik are a classic name in old-school tech-y thrash, coming up alongside legendary acts like Watchtower, Coroner, and Mekong Delta, and the band came firing out of a thirty-year hiatus during the pandemic to relatively little fanfare. Thankfully, during that long pause from releasing new music, Toxik lost absolutely zero of their infectious, manic energy. Starting the second album in the comeback series, Dis Morta, with the title track, we’re treated to a cheesy sample into an insane riff where guitars overwhelm, simply shrieking with joy in sustained upper-register classic heavy metal glory. And then all hell breaks loose at just about a million beats per minute with Ron Iglesias’ stellar belting atop it all–the man can sing. With one of the most eccentric vocal performances I’ve heard since the Howling Sycamore debut, he brings an insanity to this album that the guitars seem to nearly struggle to keep up with; considering the guitars are genuinely some of the most technical I’ve ever heard in thrash, Iglesias’ commits quite the vocal feat. His piercing falsettos, crazed ramblings, and technical melodies are almost the star of the show, his timbre surprisingly reminiscent of Norwegian prog superstars Spiral Architect at points, too. 

Spiral Architect can also be heard in the riff-work, so technical as to boggle the mind, yet Toxik never once sacrifice catchiness and head-bangability. Dis Morta has more hooks than a tackle shop, and if every band could solo with as many noodles as tracks like “Feeding Frenzy,” the world wouldn’t need any more Italian restaurants. Take my favorite track on Dis Morta, for instance, “Chasing Mercury”: The guitars riff with a progressive, stop-on-a-dime cadence with endlessly entertaining bass licks providing counterpoint that verges on Archspire all while Iglesias screams, “LIKE CHASING MERCURRYYYYY.” Then, the song ratchets up the intensity and speed until we get a “DESTINYYYYY” shout, which turns into a solo; moreover, the solo section includes the classic Savatage “aah aah aah” vocal attack. Every second bites into the brain, and it’s the perfect pace to be in the conversation for greatest running song of all time. Nearly every track is similarly amazing at building riffs into more riffs with catchy chorus and mind-melting solos. Another track that stands out is “The Radical” with one of the most distinct spoken-word clips I’ve heard in an album ever. If the whole genre were as infectiously phenomenal as this song, I’d swear fealty to thrash like the old metal guard did in the 80s. 

Of course this is technical thrash metal, so we aren’t treated to many changes in tempo, but Toxik do have a couple tricks up their sleeve like on “Devil in the Mirror,” which begins with a clean, almost ballad approach not unlike Vektor’s “Collapse.” “Devil in the Mirror” evolves back into straight-edged thrash after the piano etude, but the dramatic, off-kilter lyrics–ranging from classic thrash metal themes like dissenting religious opinions to technology to rambunctious politics across the album–really keep the theatrical track intro intact. The production on this album is impeccable, making the most out of modern traits while still keeping the appeal of a more organic sound rather than the sterile sound of many modern bands. The drums in particular sound great, each blast beat and cymbal hit crystal clear. 
I really don’t have much left to say in way of concluding remarks except that if you like thrash in any capacity, you’ll love this. Toxik have achieved an all time genre classic in the conversation with the legends of all metal–this may well be the ‘20s Ride the Lightning or Rust in Peace. Controversial? Maybe, but I strongly believe it: If this album can gain more traction, a new generation of metal fans will convert to the church of thrash (instead of that -core those young-ins listen to nowadays). Go give this a spin on your next run or cardio day.

Recommended tracks: The Radical, Hyper Reality, Chasing Mercury
You may also like: Mekong Delta, Xoth, Watchtower
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Massacre Records – Website | Facebook

Toxik is:
– John Christian (guitars)
– Jim DeMaria (drums)
– Shane Boulos (bass)
– Ron Iglesias (vocals)
– Eric van Druten (rhythm guitars)