ToxicRose

ToxicRose and an up-and-coming four-piece crossover band between modern metal and glam rock. Formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2010 they are now properly debuting with a full-length album after a well-received eponymous EP. Tom, the guitarist and backing vocalist for the band, give a foray into the bands recent activities, for all those willing to hear. Hi Tom… it’s good to have you on Grande Rock. First of all, do give us a brief bio of the band and tell us what ToxicRose is all about… T: We got together back in 2010, I met Andy & Michael at a party we hit it off, later on we had Goran onboard. We all shared the same vision of how we wanted this band to be and started developing our own sound and style. It was a lot of hard work in the early days before anyone even know about us. What was the thing that urged you to form ToxicRose… where did you have in mind to move musically? T: ToxicRose was formed with a dream of a band that we wanted to see and listen to. A band without compromising in sound and look. Musically we wanted a melodic metal sound with a harder edge to it. heavy riffs and big catchy choruses. And where did you have in mind to move stylistically? If I may, I’d describe your looks like the bastard child among Motley Cure, WASP and any (Scandi) Black Metal band… what’s your say? T: Hell yeah! I think you nailed it in your description, just add Kiss to the list and it’s complete! (i.n.: Yeah, KISS and Alice Cooper should be on that list as well!) Four years after your self-titled EP, you’re back with your debut full-length album “Total Tranquility”. What happened in the meantime and why did it take you so long to release your debut full-length? T: Doing shows, writing new material, recording and gearing up for the ToxicRose world domination crusade. The recording took a hell of a time; way longer than we had planned but we wanted it to be as good as possibly. So what does the album title “Total Tranquility” declare? It doesn’t talk about the album’s music – that’s comprehensible. T: I love it, it’s a great title! To us it was pretty obvious to choose “Total Tranquility” as a title of the album. Your logo and your cover artwork are reminiscent of the early 90s of the Scandi black/death metal bands. I guess you did that on purpose, but why’s that? Do you think that it could be somewhat frustrating for the fans at some point or not? T: Yes, it’s inspired by the old school death metal bands covers for sure, cuz they look bad ass. The artist who did the cover is a big fan of the style and made an awesome job making our album cover a nice piece of eye candy. Frustrating among the fans? No I hope not; I hope the fans will love it as much as we do. Do give us a hint about each track… T: “World of Confusion”: Melodic & catchy, a great opener for the album… “The Silent End of Me”: Full speed ahead blasting song, a song that will make you bang your head! “Killing the Romance”: An enormous bad to the bone tune with a touch of romance. “Sinner”: Heavy and dark with easy to sing-a-long chorus… “We Own the Night”: Bombastic & groovy. A great live song that makes the crowd raise their fists in the air! “Reckless Society”: Furious take no prisoner energetic track with a **** off attitude vibe. “Clarity”: Interesting & catchy. Very melodic chorus and a lot of heavy riffs. “Because of You”: A soft powerful piano ballad. Something different from the rest of the album. “We All Fall Down”: Heavy skull crushing track; great vocal lines and machine-gun riffing on this one. “Total Tranquility”: An epic grand finale anthem. A progressive track that have everything you need. Deep lyrics and some well-arranged instrumental parts in this one. Where did the recordings take place and who is responsible for the production, the mixing and the mastering of you debut? T: The album was produced by the four of us in the band, recorded at Saltgruvan studio except the drums, which was recorded at Audiogrind studio. Mixed by Ronny Milianowicz at Studio Seven & mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studio. Are there any touring plans for the Summer of Fall? T: Yes, we are working on it as we speak. Hopefully we have some dates to release soon. Can’t wait to get out there and give you some mayhem on stage and meet all the fans! Two videos, one for “We all Fall Down” and another for “World of Confusion” are already out. Do you plan to release any other video (lyric or concept) anytime soon? T: Nope, not until the next album I guess… What are your expectations from “Total Tranquility” and what is that you want to accomplish with ToxicRose in due time? T: Hopefully people will love the album and also bring ToxicRose to the masses and show the world what a great band we are. The ToxicRose revolution has begun! Time for our “weird questions”!!! How did you come up with the name ToxicRose initially? T: It was Andy’s idea. Mix up the ugly & bad with the beautiful. What do you think of the “free downloading & the free streaming issue” of our time? Will that help music generally or not? T: I guess it’s just the way the music biz looks likes nowadays. I rather have people buying albums than streaming or downloading ’em of course but I try to see the good things about it, cuz it’s easy for people to share a video from YouTube or a playlist from Spotify with their friends and maybe they pick up new music to listen to. Are “social media” a “compulsory part” of music biz these days or bands, artists & labels can do without them as well? T: I think social medias are an important thing for everyone these days, cuz everyone uses them daily. Sure bands and labels can do it without the social media but it would be stupid not to use it, haha… If you could “erase” one thing from the music biz of our time, what would it be? T: The Celtic Frost album “Cold Lake”. I mean a badass evil metal band like Celtic Frost doing some kind of softer MTV:ish 80s hard rock. Big failure… Top 3 horror movies of any era? T: Ohh now we’re talking, I love horror movies, especially the older ones, hehe. So many favorites but I have to stick to some classics on the top. “The Exorcist”, “Halloween” and “Dawn of the Dead”. Which is the record you wish you had written and why? T: Manowar – “Into Glory Ride”, cuz its 100% epic perfection. Everyone has that one in their record collection right? (i.n.: Couldn’t have said it better dude!) Were you obliged to give just one album to extraterrestrials that would represent the whole human music, which album would it be and from which band/artist? T: “Never Mind the Bollocks” by The Sex Pistols, I guess ET & co needs a little street punk anarchy… Fill in the phrase… “Hard Rock/Glam Metal wouldn’t have evolved the way it did, if it hadn’t been for…” T: Alice Cooper… Which are the best 3 Hard Rock/Metal albums of all time according to you? T: Damn, just 3?! Haha well well… “Appetite for Destruction” by Guns N Roses, “Master of Puppets” by Metallica and “Them” by King Diamond. Which do you consider to be the best male & female vocalist in metal history? T: Paul Stanley & Joan Jett… If you had the chance to travel in time… where would you choose to go? To the past or the future and why? T: I would travel back to the glory days in Ancient Greece, drinking the fine wine and watching the theaters. I’ve always been a fan of the old Greek history and their architecture. (i.n.: What a great era!) What’s the worst thing one can say right after sex? T: When the lady say something like “ohh I have to call my boyfriend”, hehe… You have the opportunity to sleep with a movie-celebrity/porn-star of your choice. Who would it be & why? T: Jessica Rabbit, she’s the bomb! Which character from the “Game of Thrones” would you have been – if you lived in the Seven Kingdoms? T: Hmm, let’s see. what?!? Haha I know it’s a TV-series cuz I have friends who watch it but I haven’t seen it. Lame answer I know, sorry… Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight to Hell, in the afterlife? T: Lust. Thou shall not have sexual desires by any form… then you will be going straight down to hell for sure. Imagine that your girlfriend/wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react? T: Haha, I would hope the wife really loves the ring, then I will love her no matter what. We have finally come to an end Tom. I’d like to thank you for doing this interview. Wish you the best for the future to come. Take care dude! T: Thank u dude for taking the time with me! Cheers!