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TOXIKULL "Turbulence"
TOXIKULL "Turbulence"
By Dr. Abner Mality
Germany's Dying Victims Productions can usually be trusted to find good bands with strong 80's influences and TOXIKULL from Portugal is yet another one. What they lack in innovation, they make up for in authentic old school flavor.
Although described as a speed metal band, I find these guys are much more closely aligned with straight classic metal. The band that most comes to mind when listening to "Turbulence" is METAL CHURCH. "Midnight Fire" and the title track in particular sound like they could have come right off the first two CHURCH albums. Singer Lex Thunder (sounds like he should be starting up with AEW any day now) is very much in the David Wayne/Mike Howe vein, with some piercing falsettos as well. Those songs have a kind of sad, mournful feel to their heaviness...something that METAL CHURCH was also known for delivering.
There's a bit more to them than just one particular influence, though. I rather liked the chugging "Hard To Break", which has a kind of RATT meets ACCEPT swagger. "Dragon Magic" is mid-80's power metal in the OMEN vein and the ballad "Dying Star" is actually quite good, with a vibe similar to MAIDEN's "Remember Tomorrow" or PRIEST's "Evening Star". The speed metal comes to the fore on the excellent "Blessed By the Night", "Burning Spark" and the album ending "Flame of Glory", which is as familiar as hell but none the worse for it.
If you're into most Dying Victims bands, you could give a damn about originality anyway, so hop aboard this ride and get ready for "Turbulence".
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