Tonic Breed

Tonic Breed is a Norwegian heavy metal band formed in Sarpsborg, Norway in 2006. Patrik Svendsen and Bjørn Myhren had already started playing together in 2006, with influences from bands like Slayer, Metallica and Pantera. Rudi Golimo and Daniel Pettersen later joined the band which was originally called Roadkill. In the fall of 2008, the band changed the name to Tonic Breed. The last member to join the band is Jørgen Abrahamsen who replaced Thomas Koksvik on the guitar in 2015. In the same year, Daniel Pettersen returned as a drummer since 2012.

Tonic Breed collaborated over a short period with producer Beau Hill on a remake of the song and the band's first single, "Death in Small Doses".^[1] The new version of the song got the title Death in Small Doses (Put to Death). As of 2015, the band has released two full-length albums, their most recent being, Outsold, on April 28, 2014. Besides the two studio albums, the band has also released two singles and four music videos.

History

Early Years (2003–2009)

In 2003, Patrik Svendsen and Bjørn Myhren got to know each other when they found out they shared the same interest for music. They were classmates and so was Rudi Golimo. In 2006, Svendsen and Myhren started playing together, both of them guitar. Golimo wanted to join in as well, and by Svendsen and Myhren's request, he bought a bass guitar. They had a lot of tryouts with different drummers in a period of time. It was first when the three of them met Daniel Pettersen they considered them self as a full band for the first time. The first rehearsal with this four man line up was in September, 2006. The band then started practice in Pettersen's garage.

Golimo had for a long time speculated in a proper band name. He had a strong wish to name the band Roadkill, which became the band name for over a year.

Roadkill played their first time live performance ever at an audition in 2008. The winner of the audition won a gig at a local festival in Sarpsborg, called "Bedemarten". The audition setlist contained of two songs: The band's first single, Don't Fail Again, and Metallica's Sanitarium.^[2] Roadkill was the victorious band. Roadkill's first real gig was at "Bedemarten festival", August 28, 2008, in front of 200 people.

Roadkill changed their name to Tonic Breed in the fall of 2008. Tonic Breed released their first demos in November, 2008. The EP contained early versions of "Oblivion" and "Don't Fail Again", which later appeared on the band's upcoming 2010 album release.

May 30, 2009, Tonic Breed won a live competition. The first prize was a studio recording. At that point, Tonic Breed did not have enough songs to make a whole album. It wasn't before the year after that Tonic Breed could hit the studio to make their first studio album.

On the Brink of Destruction (2010–2011)

Recorded in Fredrikstad, Norway, Tonic Breed's first album release was On the Brink of Destruction. It had its release November 24, 2010. The mixing and mastering was done by Lasse Jensen. Just a few days after the last recording day, Bjørn Myhren left the band. Anders Bekken replaced Myhren as the new lead guitarist, the same month as the album was released. Bekken joined numerous concerts until he had to quit in the middle of 2011 because of duty in the Norwegian army.

Tonic Breed continued playing concerts, and former guitarist Bjørn Myhren stepped in to help the band for a short time. One of the concerts Myhren played was the Global Battle of the Bands local semi finals. Tonic Breed with guest guitarist Bjørn Myhren managed to qualify to the national finals of the competition.^[3]

Just a few weeks later, Tonic Breed joined yet another competition. This time a local one in Sarpsborg. Tonic Breed won the competition, and the prize was a good amount of studio time in "Lydlageret" Studio in Sarpsborg. This is the main reason Tonic Breed ended up recording their second studio album in that particular studio. Although the studio was ready, Tonic Breed was not ready for the studio. The band had no new songs ready to record at that time and had to put the recording process on hold.

Impossible is Nothing And Thomas Koksvik (2012)

Tonic Breed playing at Global Battle of the Bands in 2012

A newly mastered, and slightly remixed version of "Death in Small Doses" was made by Beau Hill in March 2012. That version of the song got the title Death in Small Doses (Put to Death). The deal came through after Beau contacted the band earlier the same year, wanting to do a project with them.

Thomas Koksvik took the place as the new lead guitarist in early 2012. Koksvik and Svendsen knew each other from Trøndertun Folk High School in Trondheim, Norway. Short after Koksvik arrived, the band played the national Global Battle of the Bands final in Oslo, Norway, which did not end in success for Tonic Breed. Pettersen decided later on to move to Rena in Norway, to finish his school education. Within this time, with a band member short, Tonic Breed did a lot of songwriting while looking for a new drummer. While writing new songs, the band did their first music video to their latest single release, Impossible is Nothing.^[4] The drums on the song were done by Paal Johannesen, vocalist in the hardcore band "Bits Between". On the music video, Tobias Lundblad from "Springskalle" stepped in as a guest performance.

Outsold (2013–present)

Tonic Breed live in Lillehammer, Norway in 2013

Five different drummers were in for tryouts with Tonic Breed in 2012 and 2013. It was Mats Johansen who suited Tonic Breed the best. The audition song for all the drummers were a song with the working title "Implosion". That song later got a new name, "Fifth Estate" and ended on their upcoming album.

Tonic Breed recorded their second studio album, Outsold, in September, 2013. The album was recorded and pre-mixed by Patrik Svendsen and Lars Andresen at Lydlageret Studio in Sarpsborg. The last part of the mix was done by Børge Finstad at Toproom Studio, Norway. The album had its release on April 28, 2014.

Shortly after, the third track of the album, Bad Company, got its own music video. The video was animated by Ole Andersen and directed by Patrik Svendsen.^[5]

By Norwegian radio program P3 Pyro, Tonic Breed was picked out as one of Norway's most promising bands of 2014.^[6]

Tonic Breed released a music video to the song "Strife", in May, 2015. This was the first project to include lead guitarist, Jørgen Abrahamsen.

Currently step-in drummer in the band is former drummer, Daniel Pettersen.^[7]

In January 2016, Tonic Breed released a music video to the song "Fifth Estate", which became the third and last music video from the "Outsold" album.^[8] It was directed by Oscar Birk. The video was the first project since 2012 to involve Daniel Pettersen on drums.

In November 2016, along with Meltdown and Scars, Tonic Breed's fourth-ever concert enters their hometown, Glenghuset, Sarpsborg. They perform the 10th year anniversary while wearing the business suits since "Fifth Estate" music video, with over 120 people watched.

Band Members

Timeline

Discography

Style And Lyrical Themes

	"Lowball" (2010) "Lowball" (On the Brink of Destruction), demonstrating Tonic Breed's melodic and groovy elements in drop C tuning, featured in the first album release. "Outsold" (2014) "Outsold" (Outsold), demonstrating Tonic Breed's lyrics "There's Just One Escape" (2014) "There's Just One Escape" (Outsold), demonstrating Tonic Breed's faster and aggressive tempo.
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Tonic Breed's two album releases is quite different in the musical style. The first album release, On the Brink of Destruction, is a more melodic record with thrash elements. At times it has a groovy feel. Svendsen's voice is also more cleaner than later releases.

Outsold is the fastest and most aggressive release from Tonic Breed. The band replaced a lot of the groovy and melodic parts from the first release, with a faster tempo and songwriting complexity. The average length of an Outsold song is 6.51 minutes long, making it 1.20 minutes longer than an average song on the album before.

Most Tonic Breed songs are played in standard E tuning, except three songs on the first album. On those three songs the band plays in a drop C tuning.

The lyrics are mostly political. Anger against corruption and the power of the media is a recurring topic, where war is also used a lot.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tonic Breed.

• Tonic Breed's official website