Norway’s Tonic Breed has started a new journey from a full-on band to now a one-man thrash army led by founding member Patrik K. Svendsen. The first song that was written for its new era and on its recently released EP “Fuel The Fire” is entitled “H.E. Antagonist“, which features Oliver Palotai of Kamelot not only performing a guest guitar solo on the track, but also sees him behind the soundboard taking care of mixing and mastering duties for the song.
Today, Tonic Breed shares their music video for the song, which can be heard and seen below.
“A little more melodic from other recordings on the EP, but still a heavy song, I recommend giving this a listen!” adds Svendsen.
Since first forming in 2006, Tonic Breed operated as a full contingent with tons of experience in the European metal community. Following the release of their 2018 album “Install Memory” and after 13 years of moshing, the band members decided to part ways in 2019 with Patrik K. Svendsen taking the reins to reinvent the band for its next release, the EP entitled “Fuel The Fire” that includes guest appearances from Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth), Bernt Jansen (Artch/Wig Wam), Björn Strid (Soilwork), Martin Skriubakken (Endezzma) and Oliver Palotai (Kamelot).
Tonic Breed’s latest EP “Fuel the Fire” is raw, energetic hard-hitting thrash, with melodic and groovy elements. The record is four songs all composed by Svendsen, each with their unique touch and sound. The EP will not disappoint the Tonic Breed fanbase, the songs are similar to the styling of past TB recordings, but with new enlightening elements such as EP closing track “Blood Moon”, a melodic piece demonstrating some experimental songwriting from Svendsen.
The songs were recorded over 18 months with multiple sound engineers from different countries, along with various guest musicians. Svendsen explains in further detail the decision on continuing as a one-man band and putting out the EP:
“The re-branding of Tonic Breed came to life after the lineup was divided. All the other previous band members started their new band projects, but I had not that same momentum going on at the time. I did not then, or have never since, considered making this a full band again to play live shows with Tonic Breed. At the same time, I had a couple of unfinished songs I wanted to finish. So after a little while, I started to take action and continue my musical path as well. The songs I worked with then were meant for a new project. Every now and then on this journey, I did consider officially ending Tonic Breed with a statement to our fans from time to time. You know, instead of just silently fading away. So while this was happening in one part of my brain, I thrived forward with my songs in another. I experimented with different images and styles of music (within the metal genre). Eventually, I also came up with the idea of having guests onboard. But instead of creating something new, I restarted something old. Small details made me choose this path.”
Tonic Breed’s new EP “Fuel the Fire” is available on all digital platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.
