Toxic (New album in September ’08)

Toxic is a norwegian rockband situated in the town of Stavanger. Toxic is newly signed to Rocksector Recordings (UK). They are working on their upcoming album "Fear" which will be released in August ’08. Toxic are heading for the UK to do a 2 week tour in October ’08. Everything started back in may 2003. The Band members got together and quickly established their own sound. You..ll allways find a lot of contrasts and dynamic in their music, and Toxic is always searching for "the inner human psychic" in their lyrics. There..s a obvious link to bands from the 1970s and up until today.

Album: Toxic - Intoxicated

Buy this CD: cdon.com recordworld.no Released: 28.11.2005 Downbeach Music : DBM 1015

Bonus: Chronos Video

Reviews : Johnny Forslund - 80/100
Toxic is a Norwegian rockband situated in the town of Stavanger. Everything started back in May 2003. The Band members got together and quickly established their own sound. You’ll always find a lot of contrasts and dynamic in their music, and Toxic is always searching for "the inner human psychic" in their lyrics. There’s a obvious link to bands from the 1970s and up until today. The lyrics goes deep into our psyche and sets focus on the racist and material thinking of mankind..

As you can see from the above presentation this is not one of the usual type of hard rock bands, these guys are far more interesting and different then the average bands of today’s rock scene. I promise you that their is tons of Jimi Hendrix vibes all over the album and it takes several spins to really get into this mysterious bunch of well crafted songs. All the great acts from the 70s up until today are represented and introduced here in Toxics own charismatical way. Groovy riffs and funny turns and twists that convince the listener. Every song and every tune must be hand made and they all stand out from each other in its little own genius way. The big word for Intoxicated will be Personal. I get the feeling of owning the one and only copy. Great well written and bloody interesting disc that gives me something back after every run through. Buy, discover and be surprised. Heavy rock and a perfect ending of a fantastic 2005.

Johnny Forslund www.aordreamzones.com/

------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------

Reviews : Rune Grnsen - 4,5/6
The members of the Stavanger band Toxic has not been playing together longer than since May 2003. That is in fact quite impressing and hard to believe when you listen to the nine strong hardrock tunes on their debut record Intoxicated. Surely these guys have been placed their worn out jeans legs straight trough an amplifier earlier, there is no doubt about that, but never the less it is impressing that the band already now has such a raw, tight and tough sound to show us. The ensemble seems to work smoothly regarding this debut record.
The five members has placed themselves in an not exactly inventional genre, hardrock/heavy, but still they are able to divide themselves from the crowd of bands within this segment mutch because of the cool sound, but also because of their ability to write thoughtful lyrics, (subjects like racism etc. are not exactly ordinary for the basic heavyband), make good tunes and their energic treatment of their instruments. The whole makes Intoxicated stand up as something out of the ordinary: an interesting and particularly/especially good hardrock record.

Toxic plays as mentioned a kind of hardrock that is oozes of inspiration from the old heroes from the 70thees and the 80thees. You can hear Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Rainbow and Whitesnake (from the great vocals of Torbjrn Grindheim), but you never get the feeling of a rip-off-band, but rather a original and great band that plays good old rock.

Their music is filled with contrasts and dynamic. Great lyric lines is brutally interrupted by startling riffs and tough drums and then to glide over into pure and floating harmonies again.

The band has also made a reward winning music video (EuroFilmForum Skandinavia) to the tune Chronos. You want get it on the record, but the band lovingly sent me a copy. Entertaining stuff! The video is of course on their home page.

The only thing I find less attracting about Intoxicated arent he somewhat anonymous Matrix inspirated cover. I actually expected some sort of elektronica-metal band judging from the cover, but luckily Tocix are far from that sort of band. The moral probably sounds: Never judge a book by its cover.

I guess Ive said it all except that it would be smart to check up a couple of tracks in mp3 format on their homepage, or simply bye the record if you like that kind of music. I thought I had forgotten about my old Maiden-records, but Toxic has made me want to dig out the old Seventh Son of a Seventh Son yet another time. This is by itself is quite impressive!

Rune Grnsen 13 januar 2006 www.rockeweb.com

------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------

Reviews : encrucijada-melodic.com.ar - Pablo B - 4/5

The great contrasts found in the music by Norwegian band Toxic is what describes them most accurately. Their sound can be identified throughout the entire album, and this is why their music is so authentic, innovative and great. The music can be characterized as acid rock dating back to the 70s, and with guitar play resembling Hendrix. The lyrics contain an introspective message relating to Mans great sufferings, such as racism, materialism and hypocrisy, not to mention the great psychological problems of our time. This message is so loud that the music almost seems too powerful to pass on.

And this is the essence of Toxics strenght, since their music is so personal and original, like their poetic basis. A touch of mystery surrounds Toxics sound, and this creates the essential atmosphere for the message it carries. By listening to the album I surrender to a feeling of despair for a short period of time. The peace this music brings sums up the feelings of rejection, impotence and self-criticism. Time spent listening to Toxic is unique and irresistible, and provides the same feelings as when listening to bands such as Pink Floyd and House of Not.

Some of the odd and appealing characteristics of the band can be found inside the booklet: here we find an image portraying "The Last Supper", but instead of Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley is placed in the middle. The album also contains the video of the song "Chronos", which in my opinion is the best song on the entire album.

Dont miss this album!!

Pablo B. encrucijada-melodic.com.ar

------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------

Reviews : www.melodichardrocktoday.tk

Toxic is from Stavanger,Norway and started back in May 2003. The band started playing cover songs, but after a while their guitarplayer Geir Ove Bernhoff, came up with some self made tunes that the band started working with. In the autumn 2003, the band booked studio for the first time to record a six track promo. A half year later the band hit the studio again to record five new tracks. The band started with some promotion work until they signed a deal with the Norwegian label Downbeach Music. In April 2005 the band started recording their first full-length album, and two months later they also shot their first video for the album of the song Chronos. The debut Intoxicated was released in January 2006.

At the moment there is a lot of new interesting bands coming forward in the music industry in Norway. One of the names that has got a lot of attention from me lately is the newcomers Toxic. With their debut album, Intoxicated, they have made an album that stands forward as one of the best I..ve heard with its 70..s influenced style. The band mix this style together with influences from hard rock bands of today, and they also has some progressive influences in their music. Another thing I like about Toxic is that their sound is very natural and not overproduced. The album opens with the song No, a song that lyrically deals about all the racist and nationalistic narrow-minded opinion thats prominent in nowadays world politics. The music is heavy with cool guitars, Indian/ Arabian themes. The vocals from Torbjorn is clear with a raspy touch and his voice suits the songs perfectly. The next tune, Chronos, is a straight forward hard rock song of the old school and maybe one of the most commercial songs on the album. The band has also shot a great video of this song, and I like the story in the video, you will discover the motorcycle gang as the good people and the priest as the bad. Elvis appears as the Messiah and the story ends up gathered around a table for a last supper. Black White Magic shows another side of Toxic..s music, with slow, calm and tender parts that goes of with heavy guitar riffs round the chorus parts. I like the instrumentation and vocals in the song and especially the guitarsolo in the song and the vocalpart round the chorus is really great! Silence Of Mind is the first of the two ballads on the album, a song with fine harmonic and lots of small relaxing and dreamy guitarsolos. A beautiful song with good vibes that gives me a good feel! The titletrack Intoxicated is one of my favorite tunes, it starts like a ballad, but explodes with heavy guitar riffs and a cool rhythm. The lyrics deal about Narcissus, the Greek God that fell in love with his own image. Fear None is a more straight forward hard rock tune with good drive and rhythm. I like the guitar riffs in this song and the guitarsolo and bass solo is great. Love, Fear, Hate, Anger, slows the tempo down in its first minute, but the song gradually builds up with different tempos and I think that this is one of the most progressive influenced songs on the album. Astral Affair is the second ballad on the album, a fine dreamy song with emotional vocals, dreamy guitarsolos and a strong chorus! The last tune, Soul, is also a progressive oriented tune with a lot of changes throughout the song, a song that needs some rounds in the player, but who opens more and more for each time I hear it! A very promising debut from Toxic, who I think take a step away from the average of bands today with their style and songs, so take your time and visit the bands website to check their songs and video!

HOT TIP !!!
Read my interview with the band

www.melodichardrocktoday.tk

Strutter Magazine

TOXIC INTOXICATED (DOWNBEACH MUSIC)

New Norwegian band with a debut CD release that sounds quite impressive. The bands big guitar riff orientated slow Stoner Rock and Roll has strong similarities to TROUBLE, BLACK SABBATH and KYUSS. 9 songs are included on the first CD, which also contains a professional videoclip. Especially the song Chronos, which also is featured in a videoclip, is a great strong midtempo song with a memorable chorus. This is definitely a high quality CD, although perhaps the vocals could improve a bit. In the meantime, the band recorded 2 new songs, which I have heard on a promo CD and it continues the style created on their first full-length CD, although it also reveals some THE CULT similarities. More info on TOXIC at: http://www.toxic-rock.com

(Points: 8.2 out of 10)