The title track's lurching, drop-C main riff. Daron Malakian tracked Toxicity on an Ibanez Iceman in drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D) through a blend of two amps — engineer Dave Schiffman's words: 'the Mesa gave us the teeth, and the Marshall gave us the body.' A Mesa/Boogie Rectifier supplied the high-gain bite, a Marshall Plexi-type the low-mid weight, with no overdrive pedals in front. Rick Rubin wanted it dry and in-your-face: each cab was mic'd with an SM57 and SM87 into a pair of 1176s. Recorded at Cello Studios, mixed by Andy Wallace.