Album Review: Toxaemia – Where Paths Divide (Emanzipation Productions)

The wait is finally over! More than three decades after its original inception, Swedish cult death metal band Toxaemia will release its debut album, Where Paths Divide.

Toxaemia has been around since January 1989, one of the pioneering bands of Swedish death metal. They have made some line-up changes but the core is still intact. In the three years between 1989 and 1992, the band managed to record two demos and two 7” EPs. Unfortunately, Toxaemia never released the second EP, since they played and released material until 1992 when, for various reasons, took a break. The reunion came in 2017. Initially, it was all just to have some laughs and play some music again. The band members took it all slow and started rehearsing a little bit. Gradually they started to gel again musically. Some of the musicians had not touched their instruments since 1992 when they quit playing. They started rehearsals and played a few shows and festivals, before signing to Emanzipation and started recording their debut album.

Now, the old Swedish death machine is ready to fire on all cylinders and make up for the lost time. Where Paths Divide will be released on November 20th 2020 via Emanzipation Productions.

Clearly having not missed a a step, Toxaemia unleash their debut album with all the fire and ferocity of a band ready to go. A short intro that helps sell the fantastical elements of their album, it’s with Delusions that things really get started. An eruption of instrumentation, the death metal forges are stoked and red hot. It’s a thumping start that will get the head-banging hard and heavy.

The bar set, Pestilence keeps the same frantic and frenzied savagery in focus but has these brief bassy drops that sees the track change direction in impressive fashion. While later a guitar solo sounds like it’s out of control! Buried to Rot and Betrayal then continue the quality work laid down by the first couple of tracks by being unrelenting in their brutal conquest. A march of destruction led by Toxaemia and their goal to prove that they still belong as part of this scene.

There’s zero argument to dispel such a claim. Toxaemia belong and are so welcome back. Something that most will be feeling by time we hit the halfway point and the self-titled beastly offering that comes.

Death metal at its finest, the fire and fury continues into the sickening horror (those drums are brilliant) that is Black Death, the middle-finger outwards that is Six-Fold Revenge, the aptly titled noise-monger that is Psychotic Pandemic and the delectably twisted crunch of instruments that appear on Leprosy.

Toxaemia have pulled it off and one last ferociously driven number, Hate Within is just the icing on the cake. The thickness of the riffs and relentless drum assault is to die for. It and the album as a whole will cause nothing but fervent adoration in fans of death metal.

Toxaemia – Where Paths Divide Full Track Listing:

1. Where Paths Divide
2. Delusions
3. Pestilence
4. Buried to Rot
5. Betrayal
6. Toxaemia
7. Black Death
8. Six-Fold Revenge
9. Psychotic Pandemic
10. Leprosy
11. Hate Within

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