Band:	Toxik
Album:	World Circus
Style:	Technical thrash metal
Release date:	1987

01. Heart Attack
02. Social Overload
03. Pain And Misery
04. Voices
05. Door To Hell
06. World Circus
07. 47 Seconds of Sanity/Count Your Blessings
08. False Prophets
09. Haunted Earth
10. Victims

I am so glad Thrash Metal existed before I was born because, if what we hear today was all there was, this genre wouldn't be my favorite. But thanks to bands like the recently discovered Toxik, I have an opportunity to dive into the fathomless depths of the 80's Thrash, with its countless bands and ideas they put forward. Unfortunately, just like many other not so popular but great Thrash bands, Toxik disbanded in the nineties, namely in 1992. They have reunited in 2007 though and reissued their only two albums, one which I am going to review. Ladies and gents, please welcome, World Circus.

First thing to say is that this is one of very few (Thrash) albums that I got blown away by after the very first listen. This is an album with great songwriting, excellent performance and amazing vocals. A pearl of a voice that Mike Sanders has got there is impossible to miss. You get hooked to it immediately. He was definitely one of the best vocalists in the eighties, and, if not undiscovered, then unfortunately forgotten - sort of like Christian Augustin of the 80's French combo Sortilège. Speaking of other musicians in the band, Josh Christian is just a guitar master. I suppose he wrote most of the music in the band, and when you look at it, it's just amazing: all the techniques he uses, the mind-blowing, open-minded solos and riffs. I remember listening to this album for the first time, and the solo on "47 Seconds of Sanity/Count Your Blessings" almost made me faint. Only one other solo have ever had the same effect on me, which is the slow solo in "Master of Puppets." "47 Seconds of Sanity" also offers some technical acoustic guitar playing - something you would expect to hear from Al Di Meola, not a Thrash Metal band. And then how can one miss the greatness of the title track with its chromatic riff. It is a very original music piece despite the fact that the famous circus theme was used there. In fact, this thing particularly makes it that original. A similar riff can also be heard a little in "Social Overload" (which almost makes this a concept record ) Well, Toxik really deserves the label of a Technical Thrash Metal band due to Josh Christian.

World Circus is a great record, which has just got it all: original songs, commendable performance from each member, and memorable riffs, which all makes it a very enjoyable listen. The production may seem pretty weak, and even if it is, it does not spoil the feel: it's Thrash Metal after all; you can't ruin great riffs with bad production. Anyway, this album is highly recommended for all Thrash fans.