Toxic Shock - Between Good and Evil (1992)

The 90s met the thrash metal genre like a massive artillery strike, taking its sweet time to eradicate and mutate the music, the loyalists among us cowering terror as the whistle of the shells descended upon all we held dear. The choices for bands in this scene were to persist into the loving embrace of obscurity, quit and form some groove or industrial metal act, or swerve into the more extreme territory that was beginning to stake its claim: namely, death metal. Bands like Protector and Assorted Heap were blurring the lines, taking only a half-leap into brutality, but others, like Toxic Shock, on their third and final full-length, decided it best to approach in baby steps. Between you and I, Between Good and Evil, it did not pay off.

Welcome Home...Near Dark had been a good album, the band improving in every department over their debut Change from Reality. This third album feels like a step back in the writing, but mostly, it just doesn't do a convincing job of straddling the younger genre. The band hired on a new vocalist here, K. Weber, with Uwe Dießenbacher consigning himself to his primary engine, the bass, and this transition heralds the only real 'death metal' element on the album. Weber had harsh, cookie monster vocals that merged well with the inclement barrage of tighter, somewhat technical speed riffing ("Mental Mutilation", "Nice Childhood", "Terror" and "White Death" all have some passable flurries of refined rapidity and harrying leads), but there is simply nothing that reeks of charm here. It's a solid bludgeoning to the midriff, loaded with average thrash guitars that aren't entirely outside the field of Sodom, Tankard, or Holy Moses, yet it lacks in personality.

This was put out through Massacre Records, a step sideways from their previous Nuclear Blast deal, but despite the reasonable visibility, Between Good and Evil seemed to cause no stir at all. The cover art is pretty cool, and the band definitely weren't bad at brutalizing their original formula, but the album does lack most of the menace and atmosphere of great, early 90s death metal; and the wild, memorable writing that characterized the better German thrash. Though the band were often not this busy or technical, you could honestly grab any Protector album at random and find better music. The production here is acceptable, with Weber clearly up front, slathering over the guitars and drums, but it just doesn't breed much more than a blunt force trauma: a concussion of forgetfulness with some decent lyrics and average riffs.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10] (blessed are the fine)

Toxic Shock - Welcome Home...Near Dark (1990)

Welcome Home...Near Dark would see a number of improvements for the obscure German band Toxic Shock. Not only would they join the stable of the growing Nuclear Blast label, but they'd also up their ante as songwriters considerably. The vocals here are more plausible than the 1988 debut Change from Reality, with an angrier bark akin to US bands Sacred Reich and Hallows Eve, and the songwriting is catchy, with a belligerent melodic bluster that works rather well alongside the crude production. There are still heavy traces of Kreator and Destruction in some of the riffs, but there's also a street readiness about them that brings to mind a lot of US acts of their day.

"Behind the Guillotine" sounds like a slightly less brutal outtake from Sacred Reich's Ignorance, with the same sort of deep drawl in the vocals, and a fuzzy inflection to the guitar tone that creates an adequate momentum over some tight riffs. "Change from Reality", one of those 'named for but not included on the album of the same title' tracks is also quite good, careening between fist pumping force and grooving scales. "Dragon's Power" and "World Power Rules" see an increase in speed, the latter a particular standout here, while "True Insanity" has a pretty killer bridge/lead section. A few of the later cuts falter in quality, namely "Termination", "The Challenge", and the rather plain title track, which has a few worthy guitars but otherwise feels like it was already served across the first half of the album, and a sloppy melodic anthem in the bridge.

But despite its lack of overall consistency, Welcome Home...Near Dark does deliver where the band's debut did not, and this is without a doubt the sort of underground record the cult thrash seeker will want to examine. I really love the cheesy, authentic tone and the bruising vocals, not to mention the great cover art. Unfortunately, the band would not be able to stay put with Nuclear Blast, it was a one time thing, and Toxic Shock were really coming into fruition as their genre was beginning to die out, but fans of bands like Sacred Reich, Demolition Hammer and Sacred Reich should track this down for a listen.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

Toxic Shock - Change from Reality (1988)

Nothing's shocking about this debut effort, nor is there any change from the sound of its day, and these are really the only crimes for which one can accuse it. Toxic Shock were like any other run of the mill thrash band, forming by the mid 80s while all their influences were exploding, influences that would be critical in the shaping of their sound. Uwe Dießenbacher sounds almost precisely like a more working class alternative to Kreator's Mille Petrozza, only suffering from a more goofy delivery on some of his lines, especially a few in "Left to Die" or "Burning Down Your Life". The guitars are very similar to what we were hearing from Kreator and Destruction in the surrounding years, only not managed into anything resembling a memorable song.

Thus, Change from Reality is one of those albums that spends its entire existence, some 46 minutes (not exactly short for a full-length thrash effort), just sort of hovering over any remotely good ideas. The musicians are not inept: the bass swerves and curves through the mix, while Manual Kreissig shows a wealth of dynamics in their playing, and drummer Klaus Kreissig is solid and practiced. But they never go for the throat, whether ripping through a speedster like "Forbidden Lust" or the tremendously dull bite of "Raging Speed". The majority of the tracks are played at faster speeds with forays into breakdowns where the guitars are joined by cymbals and hi-hat, but even the bands slower pacing doesn't evoke much promise. The solos are adequate but wholly unmemorable, and there's not a single catchy chorus vocal/hook found on the entire album...

So really, this is another effort that falls into the painful 'not good, but not bad' category, with nothing to even really praise or take the piss out of. Reasonable effort was placed in its construction, but the crucial riffing and vocal presence required to thrust a thrash album beyond an industry standard of complacency is lacking. Even a cover of S.O.D.'s "United Forces", placed strategically at the end of the lineup, doesn't disrupt Change from Reality from its stark mediocrity. By 1988, thrash bands who probably didn't deserve record deals were being snapped up left and right, the label owners dreaming of having the next Metallica, Megadeth or even Testament at their fingertips, and Toxic Shock seems symptomatic of such over-saturation. Amazingly, the band would score deals with Nuclear Blast and then Massacre for their two later records, both given marginally superior exposure, but Change from Reality is underwhelming enough that I must wonder...how?

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]