Toxic Holocaust plays a sort of thrash metal that was at the peak of its popularity in the mid- to late ’80s.  Thrash metal took a hit in popularity in the early ’90s when grunge took a bite out of their fanbase. Toxic Holocaust falls into the wave of bands that have been reviving the genre since the early 2000s, including Short Sharp Shock and Municipal Waste (the latter of which Toxic Holocaust has toured with).

A lot of the ancestral thrash metal that inspired Toxic Holocaust had a sort of tongue-in-cheek, campy sense of humor to it.  Other bands took their sound completely seriously.  Toxic Holocaust falls into the latter category.  The main drawback to this approach is that the music becomes somewhat of an unintentional parody of itself.  If I were presented with Conjure and Command as a parody of the trash metal genre, I might think it was kind of funny, and that someone spent a good deal of time and resources making a joke album.  Even the album cover seems like it could be a parody of metal artwork.

The tempo of Conjure and Command almost never lets up; it varies slightly from “fast” to “whiplash-inducing.” The drum parts are heavy on the double-bass pedals, and the high-pitched guitar solos are used more sparingly than is sometimes the case with this style of metal, which I appreciate.  It makes them more powerful and interesting when they do come around.

This is not, however, the album that I would recommend to a newcomer to thrash metal — that would have to be Slayer’s 1986 record Reign in Blood, or perhaps one of Anthrax’s late ’80s releases.  This is a record for the thrash devotee who just can’t get enough headbanging action.

(Relapse Records, PO Box 2060, Upper Darby, PA 19082)