For Toxik's second album Think This (1989), singer Mike Sanders was replaced by Charles Sabin, and second guitarist/keyboard player John Connelly was also brought into the fold. World Circus had been a solid thrash debut for the band, but on Think This the band had matured quite a bit and kicked things up another notch. For one thing, Sabin had a more well-rounded vocal style; sure, he could also hit the high notes when needed, but he also was perfectly capable to unleash some mid-ranged howls as well. The music on Think This is much more technical than World Circus, approaching a progressive metal territory somewhere along the lines of Watchtower, Fates Warning, and Atheist, all bands who were cranking out technical metal around the same time period in the late 80's.
With the addition of Connelly on second guitar and keyboards, lead guitarist Josh Christian was free to expand on the intricate style he started on the band's debut, and drops in plenty of complex layers on tracks like "Greed", the classically inspired "There Stood the Fence", and the stop/start riff-o-rama of "Black and White". The aptly titled "Technical Arrogance" is a blistering concoction of brutal rhythms and frenzied guitar lines, a mesmerizing piece that combines jazz-fusion complexity with metal thunder quite well. When drummer Tad Leger leads the charge, as he does on tracks like "Machine Dream" and "Shotgun Logic", the bands thrash roots come to the forefront, as they show how speed-metal was meant to be played. The band even throws in a thrash cover of Led Zeppelin's "Out on the Tiles", a good choice for a Zep cover that really fits the band's style, especially Sabin's vocals, and a song that has not been overdone whatsoever by bands choosing to cover the mighty legends.
Fans of later period Death, Watchtower, Atheist, Fates Warning, early Dream Theater, Exodus, Megadeth, King Diamond, Metallica, Anthrax, and Overkill, will certainly find lots to sink their teeth into here on Think This. Sadly, at the time, the metal masses never really picked up on Toxik (and quite frankly I'll bet Roadrunner Records dropped the ball), and this became their last album before splitting up a few years later. This remaster gives new life to this long lost classic, and is housed in a nice digipack with band history, original artwork by Ed Repka, lyrics, and photos. Long live the Toxik!
Track Listing
1. Think This
2. Greed
3. Spontaneous
4. There Stood the Fence
5. Black and White
6. Technical Arrogance
7. Wir NJN8/In God
8. Machine Dream
9. Out on the Tiles
10. Shotgun Logic
11. Time After Time
12. Think That
13. Shotgun Logic-bonus track
14. Black & White-bonus track
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