Toxik - Think This (1990)

Considered by some to be one the greatest technical thrash records of all time, listening back to the band's second opus I now have to agree. I've never heard a more refreshing thrash record, an opus so spellbinding and yet criminally underrated with a sound, especially in Josh Christian's manic guitar that puts so many other records to shame. Sadly, Toxik disbanded after just two albums but their legacy is supreme because upon hearing this smorgasborg of intricacy you will literally be blown away. I'm a huge fan of technical thrash, but this is possibly at the top of the league, not just for its complexities but the fact it remains so fluid. Josh Christian was clearly a madman on the axe, displaying a bweildering array of talent only equally by the likes of Jason Becker and Marty Friedman who plied his trade with Megadeth. Whilst Toxik can mosh hard with the likes of Anthrax, souch is the depth of this record and such is its ability to glide, that it never vecomes pretentious although anyone who can include a song called 'Technical Arrogance' gets my vote. 'Think This' is a mind boggling yet absorbing thrash assault and features a couple of cuts which could well be described as the finest ever thrash songs, the first being the unsurpasable 'There Stood The Fence' with subtleties reminiscent of Death Angel's 'A Room With A View,' Sabins clever and dreamy vocals soaring high on those wondrous arrangements, I'm gobsmacked. There is something so epic about this track, it's the pivotal moment of the album, a permanent symbol which allows the rest of the tracks to revolve around it, causing a spinning top sensation of crunching complexity and fragmented work outs, a majority of the tracks harbouring atmospheric intro's and potent messages all the while the music just rises, falls, twists and turns liek nothing I've heard before, and as crazy as it sounds it's not even inaccessible, because after a few listens you're caught up in the technicolour journey, whetehr in the form of the jazzed up 'Technical Arrogance' or the hammering drum assault of 'Time After Time' and the furious 'Spontaneous.' It makes me wonder how cool these guys could have been, but then again, when one looks at the likes of Anacrusis, Obliveon, Sadus et al, the fact is one doesn't have to earn mega bucks to be great - sure, it helps - but Toxik were always ahead of their time, and let's hope time is something you'll give them when you track this masterful record down. 9/10