Primal Future: 2019

Toxic 2.0 detonates like doomsday all over Primal Future: 2019, an ambitious new mission statement from the man whose guiding forces remain Discharge, Megadeth, Venom, English Dogs, Nuclear Assault, D.R.I., and G.B.H., all juiced by the unrelenting, feverish, urgent power of a modern metal trailblazer. A dystopian technological takeover drives the album thematically, but the passionately delivered music is vintage Toxic Holocaust, taking things all the way back to the band’s early origins. “When I started the band in 1999 I never imagined I’d still be doing it in 2019,” Grind explains. “I took everything I learned over the last twenty years and used it even as I rewound back to where it started. I recorded Primal Future by myself, even playing drums again, like the early days. I won’t alienate my fans and I also won’t just pander to them. This album bridges the gaps between every era of Toxic Holocaust.”

Has there ever been anyone more bizarrely underappreciated than Joel Grind? Ever since TOXIC HOLOCAUST emerged from Portland at the turn of the millennium, he has had arguably greater and more lasting impact on the underground metal world than any other musician: that tireless dedication to evoking...

A review of Primal Future: 2019 by Toxic Holocaust, available worldwide October 4th via eOne.