Gama Bomb at Myspace

Hailing from Northern Ireland and at the forefront of the thrash revival, Gama Bomb have created an exuberant and irrelevant brand of thrash metal that is primarily about generating an atmosphere perfect for brainless fun, good times and any occasion with a large amount of alcohol is involved. The most socio-political they get is on “global warming” that is more a lurid exaggerated tale using climate change in the same way that they use Zombies in other songs; over the top entertainment. Lyrically these guys are Tankard if they were born 15-20 years later with songs about video games as well as the expected alcohol, B Movie and cartoonish violence.

Musically it’s hard to compare them to any other artist as they have a take on thrash that would have been relatively fresh if it had emerged in the late 80’s and on the evidence of this album they are certainly a more talented prospect than Evile, SSS or even Municipal Waste. Crunchy riffs feed into brief but compelling leads, and the solos are tasteful whilst remaining rip-roaring. Lead Vocalist Philly Bryne is able to switch from a nasal punkish snarl to a glass breaking falsetto at a moment notice and despite the jovial nature of the subject matter, he adds a certain edge of intensity to the proceedings. “Citizen Brain” is for me in the top ten thrash releases of this decade. If you like thrash, buy this album.

Evile at Myspace

Thrash is cool again in the sense that new thrash bands are actually getting some exposure (its not like there was ever a shortage of them) and the old stalwarts of the genre (and I don’t mean the big four!) are getting some welcome attention from younger fans. But is it all that its cracked up to be? In the case of Evile I’m afraid it doesn’t seem to be. I wanted to like this record, I really did, like a doubting Christian I want so hard to believe. To believe that thrash is alive and kicking in the 21^st century. Maybe it still is, but I’m afraid “enter the grave” by Evile isn’t the proof I was searching for.

If you want to emulate your heroes, you have to make something that’s up there with the best of them or least is a good way there. A good example of this from another genre is Reverend Bizarre who despite releasing their first record 15 years after trad doom’s heyday were still up there quality wise with Trouble, Candlemass, the Obsessed etc. The crucial difference was although the sound Reverend Bizarre created could have been theoretically come about anytime since the early 80’s, it was their own unique sound. They took influence from the Archetype (Sabbath, duh!), their aforementioned followers and a few forgotten gems to create their own unique sound.

You see, that’s what I want from a thrash revival band. I want a band that takes the influences of all those 80’s giants and creates their own unique take on thrash and Evile just don’t do this. To be blunt, this isn’t the sound of Evile it’s the slightly modified sound of Slayer. More specifically this is the sound of “Hell Awaits” slowed down a bit, more tuneful solo’s and with a greater emphasis on groove. If you love Slayer, you’ll probably like this, but to be honest for everyone else it isn’t anything that’s going to amaze or shock you. Another part of the problem is the song lengths. Unless you are Sabbat or Voivod and thus have a genius on guitar you really shouldn’t go into old school thrash if you want to make lengthy tracks. “We Who Are About to Die” is a case in point. It features the best riff on the album, but the effect of that is negated by a song that should be around 3 minutes long being dragged out to almost 8!

I’m going to casting a critical but fair eye over the thrash revival scene from now on as its reached a level of press hype (at least in the UK) that they would have been a backlash against if it were say Metalcore or Power Metal. As I say before, I want to believe in it, desperately so, but on the first look at the evidence here today I’m afraid the search might be in vain.