Fear of God - Toxic Voodoo (1994)

   After the endless amount of extreme metal it could have been refreshing to hear some music with a bit older references, and different concept. Some metal bands which didn't try to join to the brutality contest.
   The main scene was changing in general, but Fear of God still had it's own way. While technical and progressive features started to spread, predicting the upcoming end of the extreme wave, they turned back to their basics, into thrash metal. While "Within the Veil" was quite diverse in influences, "Toxic Voodoo" may seem one-sided compared to the previous album. The gothic, doom touch was almost gone, and intensiveness took the main role. Only the disturbed vocal style of Dawn Crosby kept the two different aspects on the same ground by it's gloomy, atmospheric impression. That was like a reference to Détente, but this album was much wilder musically, while by the vocals a sharp contrast was created. It's not easier to catch the feeling like on "Within the Veil" was, but the heavy riffings and excellent themes are very helpful. Unfortunately the bad omens which were just flowing from miss Crosby's performance, soon became reality, and by her death, "Toxic Voodoo" was the swansong of the band.