Toxic Bonkers
Progress

November 2007
Released: 2006, Selfmadegod
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

Toxic Bonkers comes from Poland and has been in the business since 1993. Many members have come and gone throughout the years but for some reason the band hasn’t released many albums. A demo came out in 1994 as well as a split-demo alongside Uhuru in 1997. The debut was released in 2000 and the follow up in 2004. So the guys haven’t been overly productive in their 14 years as a band. They have done quite a lot of touring in Poland and nearby countries but not much overseas or in Scandinavia.

Poland is not known for its presence in any music scene aside from the more brutal genres. Toxic Bonkers delivers an extreme combination of death metal mixed with hardcore and grindcore. The musical foundation is old-school death metal with razor-sharp and heavy guitar riffs. Lead singer Qboot alternates between growling vocals, ordinary vocals and screams. All of the members are really competent and they know exactly what they’re doing. The album takes you on a brutal ride of death through its 10 tracks and 35 minutes.

As a fan of brutal music I enjoy Toxic Bonkers quite a bit; even though the band name is corny, the music is great. They have every element in order to succeed and listening to PROGRESS is like voluntarily being hit by a train. Even though they play their music with a lot of speed they incorporate heavier and slower passages that let the listener breathe for a while.

If you’re into extreme music in the slightest I strongly recommend buying PROGRESS; the only thing that speaks against the quality of the album is the band name and the ugly cover - but that has nothing to do with the brilliant music. Toxic Bonkers is the next big thing to come from Poland.