Prince Of Darkness (1985)

Description

In 1983, the hard rock and melodic metal band TOX was formed in the Stuttgart region and released albums in 1985 and 1986. The masterminds behind the band were the highly talented guitarist and singer Werner Dannemann, now internationally recognized as a blues musician, and drummer Peter Garattoni (unfortunately recently deceased) from the band Eulenspygel, who later played with several heavy metal bands from GAMA Musikverlag (Veto, Maniac), but was also active with John Lawton (Uriah Heep, Les Humphries Singers) in Rebel. Bassist Wolfgang Kallert (only on "Prince Of Darkness") joined the cult band Volks-Musik in 1973 and can be heard on the album "Morgens um 7 - Abends um 8". It is clear that one should not expect flawless and relentless heavy metal from TOX. As the album title and cover suggest, this melodic hard rock record may not have reached the right audience in 1985. Even though the album title could be described as melodic epic metal today and would have suited Zed Yago well, it is rather a hard, but also very melodic record, between hard rock, AOR, as well as powerful classic rock and German metal. If you listen carefully, you will even notice that TOX had a unique sound and did not conform to the standardized sound of the time. In heavy metal communities, both albums enjoy cult status in South America and certain Eastern European countries. Golden Core was able to obtain a live bonus track from a sampler, which is an impressive testament to Werner Dannemann's quality.