Toxicon are (in their opinion) a fairly good-looking collective of musicians, hailing from from Geelong, Melbourne and Ballarat, who go mighty well with a plate of cheese & crackers, and a cheeky glass of red.
Combining various elements of Groove, Speed and Progressive Metal, Toxicon provide a sure-fire way of giving your neck whiplash and your fingers a recurring case of Metal Horns.
The band formed after all members involved met during a round-robin table tennis tournament at their local YMCA, bonding over a mutual love of bacon and eggs – and Metal.
Toxicon slaved away writing a bunch of pretty crap songs, all the while rehearsing in a paint shop for the first 6 months of their conception. The paint fumes were awesome. The band then eventually managed to upgrade to an ablution block out the back of a dodgy chicken shop. No bacon, slightly less awesome fumes, but way crunchier tunes.
Nowadays they use a ‘real’ rehearsal room and subsequently have been foolhardy and naive enough to pump out an ambitious and ‘unreal’ debut 52-minute epic concept album. It is Toxicon’s dream to one day become big enough to release something that will alienate fans of their earlier work.
They might have already achieved it.
Fronting the band is Wayne Clarris, who pulls out all stops on stage. He proves that sweating, screaming, occasionally setting fire to your personal bits, and generally being a crazy MOFO can totally work in a band’s favour. His Tourette’s-laden potty mouth and unstoppable drunken Terminator mode leaves audiences appalled and offended, yet incapable of looking away – just like a car accident.
On guitars we have the demonic duo of Adam Esposti and Paul Jones…
Despite being Swiss, Adam Esposti, aka The Swiss Devil, aka Kaptain Krum, aka Juan Pablo Escobar, has stepped out of the Swiss neutral zone, and nicely fills in all the holes in the Toxicon wedge of cheese. With his sharp army knife style and impeccable timing, his main role is ensuring the band keeps 5 years of receipts and the peace.
The only thing more utterly devastating than Paul Jones’ earth-shattering leads, is his inhuman ability to flatten the surrounding metropolitan area with a single Giga-Snore. Paul’s glowing locks makes the whole band jealous, while he subsequently windmills his way to the last beer in the fridge, the last girl (or guy) in the bar, and the last shirt in your wardrobe. Top bloke Paul.
Behind every great band, there’s a pretty ordinary bloke, and Toxicon have found the perfect candidate in bass player, Jacob Maloney. Jacob is by far the worst person you will ever meet. His copious musical talents are enough to make you want to set his beard on fire, and his precision is that accurate that you swear he is overcompensating for something.
Considerably more appealing is drummer Thomas Nunan. Having been in bands since the beginning of time, the only thing Nunan can’t excel at is growing a decent beard. Putting this significant character flaw aside, you can’t deny Nunan’s a gun – he’s almost as solid as Meg White behind the kit. His run-of-the-mill stick tricks and obsession with raspberry soft drink power his limbs into a frenzy that kick the listener right in their Ringo Starr.
Together this bunch of “musicians” literally exude and explode a musical prowess and energy all over the stage, aiming directly into the listener’s ear canals like a freak-seeking missile. Occasionally they miss and get you in the eye. Sorry about that.
Toxicon’s debut release PURGE was released August 1st 2016 via any trusted Torrenting website and was backed with an East Coast tour of Australia and a number of unemployment benefits and other government handouts.
Toxicon is determined to invoke awe and havoc on Australia, as they unleash their sound on unsuspecting lovers of Metal everywhere. If not – they at least hope to make some new friends, or even just acquaintances along the way.
RELEASES
Purge
[self released] – August 1st 2016
Listen & Buy: HERE
Read Review: HERE
Read an interview with Wayne Clarris HERE