In the 80's, there were bands that never reached the peaks of popularity like METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD and some like them, but released remarkable albums. Maybe the reader could never heard (or read) the name of the New York based band TOXIK, a Power/Technical Speed Metal quartet that released two classic albums ("World Circus" and "Think This"), but went to its early grave on the 90's, as a consequence of the change of the musical paradigm on USA. They're alive, and their label is releasing this compilation called "Wasteland".

It's a combination of all the tracks of their first Demo Tape, called "Wasteland" with three unreleased tracks. As written above, the quartet is into a technical form of Speed Metal that reminds the earlier releases from US Metal bands of the first half of the 80s (the influence of JUDAS PRIEST is extremely clear in some moments), with a clear melodic insight. It's truly good, and shows a band with personality that could be great, if their timing was right back then. But their work still sounds good today, of course.

The production of the give songs from the Demo presents and excellent sound quality for those days, with all sounding clear, heavy and good, allowing the listener to understand what's being played. It can sound a bit "outdated", but remember that these recordings back in 1986 (the Demo was released on October of that year). But the unreleased songs (the last three ones) have a raw sound that really difficult the comprehension of what is being played. But it's something done back on the 80s, then it's something that can be forgiven.

"Heart Attack" (a rush of energy that's really great), "Haunted Earth" (with some influences that can remind ACCEPT in many moments), "False Prophets", "Wasteland" (fast and furious, with many technical parts) and the funny musical joke "Skippy Windshield" are very good songs, and some of them were presented on "World Circus", their first album. On the other hand, "Straight Razor", "Finer Points of Tragedy" and "Lost World" were properly released, and this album shows a legacy of the quartet.

Of course that "Wasteland" has a place on every Old School Metalhead's CD shelf. And TOXIK really deserves to be praised, so why in the blazes they didn't release an album yet? The quartet deserves it!