Toxic Holocaust released their latest album, Primal Future: 2019, back in October 2019 and were touring heavily in support of it before the world got hit by the current pandemic. Frontman Joel Grind took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about the band’s latest album, touring, and his own recording business. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: How would you compare Primal Future to the bands other albums?

Joel: "I wanted to do something a little bit different then the last record, difference between the last one I tried to do almost the toxic version of Reign In Blood, where the songs were short and keeps hitting you over the head with riffs. For Primal Future I wanted to do something that was nothing like the last record because it’s kind of boring to keep doing the same record over and over, so I wanted this one to have the songs a little more longer. I guess there was a little bit more of a traditional speed metal approach to the riffs and song writing as opposed to Chemistry Of Consciousness which was more just like metal punk where the songs were a minute and a half to two minutes long."

Q: Coming from a band that has toured with everyone from Nails to Gwar to Soulfly, how has it been to play in front of such diverse audiences?

Joel: "You know im just a music fan in general it seems like a no brainer to me but I think for other people I think it’s surprising. Some bands you could stay kind of stay in their lane and don’t really bring bands that are outside of their element on tour, but I feel fortunate that were able to tour with punk bands hardcore bands thrash and other kinds of stuff. Honestly, at the end of the day it all kind of comes together. I think fans of a band like Nails or a band like Gwar could potentially be a Toxic fan also."

Read more here.

Toxic Holocaust 2.0 detonates like doomsday all over Primal Future: 2019, an ambitious new mission statement from the man whose guiding forces remain Discharge, Megadeth, Venom, English Dogs, Nuclear Assault, D.R.I., and G.B.H., all juiced by the unrelenting, feverish, urgent power of a modern metal trailblazer.

A dystopian technological takeover drives the album thematically, but the passionately delivered music is vintage Toxic Holocaust, taking things all the way back to the band's early origins.

"When I started the band in 1999, I never imagined I'd still be doing it in 2019," Grind explains. "It's been a long time coming but the new album is finally ready and it's sort of a culmination of my past twenty years of doing this band. Most notably, I decided to go back to my roots and record this entire album by myself and play all of the instruments like I did in the early days. It was a lot of fun and nostalgic and at the same time exciting to be able to apply everything I've learned over the years."

Primal Future: 2019 was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Grind with artwork by Steve Crisp. In advance of its release, a lyric video for opening bruiser, "Chemical Warlords," has been unveiled (see below). "'Chemical Warlords' opens the album and sets the tone for the rest of the record. My vision for this album was sort of a cyberpunk dystopian future. Enjoy!"

Tracklisting:

"Chemical Warlords"
"Black Out The Code"
"New World Beyond"
"Deafened By The Roar"
"Time's Edge"
"Primal Future"
"Iron Cage"
"Controlled By Fear"
"Aftermath"
"Cybernetic War"

"Chemical Warlords" lyric video:

(Photo - Chelsea Englizian)