Much like the obscure provenance of the name -- Mox Nix -- that they chose for themselves (derived from the American spelling of a German expression, "macht nichts," meaning, "it makes no difference"), this heavy metal quartet from the Houston, TX, suburb of Pasadena led a mysterious existence during its brief career. Reportedly formed in 1983, Mox Nix somehow parlayed their small local following and a well-recorded cassette demo (1984's six-track All Access) into a deal with France's Axe Killer Records, which released the band's first and ultimately only album in 1985. This self-titled affair featured bandmembers Johnny Duff (vocals), Bruce Tousinau (guitar), Robert Fernandez (bass), and Joe Vernagallo (drums) performing a rather unremarkable style of American metal with hard rock tendencies, primarily derived from the usual British suspects like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but largely clueless of thrash's advancing juggernaut bearing down upon them. As a result, the album went virtually unnoticed within the metal community at large, Mox Nix were quickly dropped, and their next label went bankrupt before the completion of a proposed second album to be called Red Planet, leading to their breakup. In the end, it's even somewhat surprising that Mox Nix's eponymous debut was reissued on CD in 2001, adding two bonus tracks -- Lightning Without Thunder and "Red Planet" -- that were rescued from those aborted sophomore LP sessions. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi