Toxic Bonkers - Progress

[genocide roach]

Toxic Bonkers - Progress
Self Made God - SMG 035 - May 21, 2007
By Ryan Starr




What do you get when you mix Napalm Death and NYHC? The answer is Toxic Bonker’s latest release Progress. This album features the fury of classic Napalm Death and the groove and power of modern day hardcore. Powerful anthems for the down trodden seems to be the running theme for this band, dealing with socio-political topics such as hate and oppression. Certainly many people will connect with this, but I’m more of a “shut up and play” kind of guy, so lets get to the music.

What we have here is pure aggression poured into the songs via crushing guitars and growling vocals. The hardcore influences bring a lot of energy into the music, and when combined with the grind aspect, it sets the listener up for 10 tracks of pure metal devastation. What makes this album so great is the tastefull blend of groove and technicality. The riffs have just the right amount of technicality to keep it interesting, but simple enough to keep that straight forward “in your face” attitude. The drumming is solid, mixing groove and blast beats to provide a solid backbone for anything the rest of the band throws at him.

As we know, too much of one thing can be a bad thing. Toxic Bonkers has figured this out, and I’m glad they did. The last thing we need is another band playing nothing but blast beats or breakdowns.

Hopefully these guys can come out to the states for a tour. Once they do, they’ll be sure to explode in the local hardcore scenes and become a household name. And when they finally do make it out here, you’ll be sure to see me there. Music this good would certainly set off a crowd and make for a great live show.

Official Toxic Bonkers Website
Official Self Made God Website