Toxik is an American
heavy metal band
from Peekskill
, New
York
. The band plays a style of
thrash metal with elements of
progressive metal, which would later be
named "progressive thrash metal". Initially active from 1985 to
1992, the band reformed in 2007.
Biography
Initial formation (1985–1987)
Toxik was formed in 1985 by Joshua Christian and Lee Erwin under
the name "Toyko". The band was forced to change its name due to the
threat of legal action from a band who had already registered the
name. The band's original four-piece lineup which, because it
occurred before the name change, was known as the
Tokyo
line up, consisted of Michael Sanders (vocals), Josh Christian
(guitar), Lee Erwin (bass) and Sal Dadabo (drums). However, the
line up did not remain stable, plaguing the band with line-up
changes into the following year. During the same year, the band's
original bassist, Lee Erwin, left Toxik citing personal reasons, to
be replaced by Brian Bonini. Additionally, Sal Dadabo, the band's
original drummer, was offered a touring contract with
Twisted Sister and left Toxik to be replaced
by Tad Leger. These new changes would become the band's new
line-up.
World Circus (1988)
In 1988, Toxik signed onto
Roadrunner
Records (previously titled "Roadracer Productions" at the time
of signing), debuting their first full-length album,
World Circus. The release of the album saw
one of the first introductions to the, "Progressive thrash metal"
genre, charting on
College Music
Journal's "Best New Metal Album of the Year" for 1988 and were
offered a number nine slot on the
Metal Blade Records "Metal Massacre"
series with the song, "Wasteland". After touring,
World
Circus, vocalist Mike Sanders left Toxik for unknown reasons,
to be replaced by Charles Sabin.
Think This and disbandment (1989–1992)
Following the received attention for the release of their debut
album, Toxik released their second full-length album the following
year with
Roadrunner Records
entitled,
Think This. After the
album's release, Toxik hired guitarist John Donnelly to perform
with them while touring. The success that resulted from
Think
This led Toxik to tour the album throughout the United States
and Europe with
Roadrunner
Records and partnering band,
King Diamond. After years of touring,
Toxik disbanded in 1992.
Reunion (2007–present)
During the autumn of 2006,
Displeased
Records re-released Toxik's
World Circus (1988) and
Think This (1989) along with releases of previous releases
from
Gorguts,
Sadus and
Disincarnate. The
World Circus
re-release included twelve
bonus tracks
and the
Think This re-release included five bonus
tracks.
In January 2007,
Metal Mind
Productions re-released
limited
edition versions of Toxik's
World Circus (1988) and
Think This (1989). The
re-releases are digitally remastered, featuring
digipak editions of the albums.
During February 2007, Toxik announced their reformation as a band.
The announcement consisted of the largely original line-up of Mike
Sanders (vocals), Josh Christian (guitar), Brian Bonini (bass) and
Lou Caldarola (drums). Tad Leger, one of the band's original
drummers, will not be performing with the band and will instead be
working on his new project, Lucertola, as a guitarist. During
August 2007, the band's bassist, Brian Bonini, left the new Toxik
line-up, leaving Toxik with only three members. Toxik is currently
in search of a new bassist to replace Brian Bonini.
Toxik announced a
European tour in November,
2007.
The
two-week tour was to have included performances at the Keep It True festival and the Ragers Elite
festival in Germany
. The
band was scheduled to perform at the Keep It True Festival on
November 3, 2007, when the band canceled the tour due to reasons
disclosed by the event organizer, "The reason is that their Polish
management booked a three-week tour around the festival with eight
day-offs in a row, which was [not] financially feasible for the
band. Also, bassist Brian Bonini quit the band some weeks ago and
they [Toxik] couldn't find a replacement for him until now." Since
the November tour cancellation, the band has not made any public
appearances. According to the Toxik MySpace page, the band is in
the process of writing new material and will not tour until a new
bassist is hired.
During December 2007,
Displeased
Records released Toxik's first
live
album set, entitled
Dynamo
Open Air 1988, which includes two live performances from
1988 and a limited CD and DVD package.
Band members
Current line up
- Mike Sanders – vocals (1985–1988,
2007–present)
- Josh Christian – guitar (1985–1992,
2007–present)
- Lou Caldarola – drums
(2007–present)
Former members
- Charles Sabin – vocals (1988–1992)
- John Donnelly – guitar (1989–1992)
- Brian Bonini – bass (1986–1992,
2007)
- Lee Erwin – bass (1985–1986)
- Sal Dadabo – drums (1985–1986)
- Tad Leger – drums (1986–1992)
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
External links
References
Wikis
Quiz
Map
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