Formed in Portugal in 2016 as Toxic Room, a name change to Toxikull the same year found this quartet refining their sound and attacking the world with great gusto. After a few releases that found them experimenting with several genres, they found their niche as a band who exist in that magical space somewhere between heavy and speed metal. Capturing that moment in time (say winter 1982/spring 1983) when heavy metal was morphing into thrash, Toxikull serve up a ferocious, but tuneful, brand of music that leaps straight for the throat. If proof were needed, look no further than their latest album Turbulence, a ten track affair that’s guaranteed to get the follicles (and air guitars) flying.

When thinking of Portuguese metal you’re first thought might be the more esoteric, extreme end and bands who inhabit the black and doom realms. That makes Toxikull an anomaly, and a very nice one at that, being a band who play a more melodic brand of metal, but that doesn’t make them any the less powerful, as opening track ‘Midnight Fire’ amply proves. With a riff to die for, Toxikull make a bold statement and play heavy metal exactly how it should be played: bold, brash and unapologetic, ‘Midnight Fire’ (and the whole album) is the kind of song that will remind you why you fell in love with the genre in the first place. Lex Thunder has the kind of voice that’s easily recognisable; with an impressive range that veers between glass-shattering squeals and AOR flavourings, his vocals are the totem around which this album swirls. Musically, Toxikull specialise in a twin guitar assault (Michael Blade is the other six-stringer) that recalls Maiden at their most effervescent (and before they went all progressive) and paints with opulent, neo-classical strokes. Drummer Tommy 666 and bassist Infernando form a formidable rhythm section, locking in tightly to deliver plenty of opportunity for headbanging action. They don’t deviate from the norm too much, you won’t find unorthodox polyrhythms here, yet their solid, no-nonsense assault is just what’s required and when consumed into the whole helps to create a foot-on-the-monitor, horns-held-on-high, metal fest.

Some might lament the fact that Toxikull play inside genre parameters, yet the brand of metal the band play is so wide that this album never feels staid. ‘Dying Star’ is an evocative number that will (like all good metal) place strong images in your mind’s eye, whilst the following ‘Strike Again’ unleashes the hounds for a windswept number and proceeds the grandiose ‘Hard To Break’. The result is an album that feels like it is in constant motion, rotating and evolving, and like the proverbial rolling stone, won’t gather any moss, ensuring it has a timeless quality and will sound fresh many years hence.

‘Flames Of Glory’ finds the band departing as they arrived, in a blaze of sonic fury they race towards a frantic conclusion; you can almost see the speakers smoking, making Turbulence an unforgettable experience.

• Turbulence is released via Dying Victims Productions on 24th April 2026.

Track List:

1. Midnight Fire

2. Turbulence

3. Dragon Magic

4. Blessed By The Night

5. Dying Star

6. Strike Again

7. Hard To Break

8. Burning Spark

9. King Of The Hammer

10. Flames Of Glory