Around the early to mid 00s we saw a slew of Thrash bands popping up, Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, Evile, Bonded By Blood and our subject for today Gama Bomb. That’s just the tip of the iceberg too, there were tons of bands appearing. Not a bad thing either, just look at how successful at least Waste and Holocaust have become and they’re still churning out bangers. I really feel that others have been overlooked though and especially Gama Bomb, the band really struck a chord with me from the moment I heard Citizen Brain and I’ve been a fan ever since.
This Irish Thrash assault is a full on party. That’s right get your white hi-tops, pizza, caps, beer and denim cut offs ready. Gama Bomb are all about fun, being silly and most importantly writing great material. Almost every one of their albums has some sort of merit to it, The Terror Tapes being a particular favourite of mine. So, the band are now seven albums in (including the album for today), can they still bring the party with Sea Savage or are they washed up and dishevelled?
Kicking things into gear (pun intended) is Judo Killer an all out fun, party inducing Thrash assault, the like which we’ve come to love from Gama Bomb, with an added bit of classic Heavy Metal flare. Keeping up the memorability is the titular number Sea Savage, I love this song, so catchy and again with that classic Metal tone in the vocals, massive in sound and still rooted in purist Thrash idealism, just what you want from Gama Bomb. The album keeps the pace through Miami Supercops and She’s Not My Mother, Todd. Although these aren’t as memorable as the opening duo. Iron Blood is a little more of the catchy side as is Lords Of The Hellfire Club, which might actually be one of the best tracks on the record. Love the classic Metal nature which flows throughout this album so much, Gama Bomb still sound so fresh and relevant.
The second half of the record cracks open with Sheer Khan, pretty fun but nothing to go too mad over. Rusty Jaw however thankfully gets the album back on track, another killer catchy number full of high-pitched vocal notes that I just love so very much. Giving us yet more fun is one of the albums gleaming moments Ready, Steady, Goat! Comedic, full of memorability and party Thrash vibes, brilliance. Electric Pentacle offers more Thrash idiocy before the album closes with Gone Haywire. It’s a pretty strong track but doesn’t bring an awful lot more to the table, I prefer it to some other tracks but really I think the question is what is and isn’t filler in this album?
I can’t say that this album is all killer and no filler, in fact quite the opposite, but then again I kind of expect that from Gama Bomb. Their good songs however always elevate their albums to a much higher plane and one can forgive the lesser sections. I still really enjoyed Sea Savage and it’s awesome to see one of these Thrash revival bands still putting out decent albums. If anything Gama Bomb haven’t garnered the praise they so deserve. Excellent live, fun on record, all round a good time. Surely this is going to be a real winner with diehard Thrash fanatics.
(8/10 George Caley)
Leave a Reply