Gama Bomb

Gama Bomb
Philly Byrne and Domo Dixon of Gama Bomb live in London June 2008.
Background information
Origin	Newry, Northern Ireland & Republic of Ireland
Genres	Thrash metal Crossover thrash
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Earache Records
Website	Official site
Members
Philly Byrne Luke Graham Joe McGuigan Paul Caffrey Domo Dixon

Gama Bomb are a thrash metal band based in Northern Ireland. Their 2009 album Tales from the Grave in Space was one of the first albums ever released as a completely free download while signed to a record label.

History

Beginnings: 2002-2005

Gama Bomb formed in Newry 2002 and soon built up a loyal following in their native Ireland and the UK, which they consolidated with a rigorous touring schedule and frequent forays into self-released recording. The band first gained attention with their demo The Survival Option in the same year. Relentless touring was paired with 2003's The Fatal Mission single. At this time front-man Philly Byrne often appeared on stage dressed as a chef, a priest, a pirate and a scientist in an ever more outrageous live stage show, which frequently included a Thrash Metal version of 80's TV show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' theme tune. Gama bomb's first dates outside Ireland came in 2004, supporting punk band The Dangerfields on a tour of Scotland.

Survival of the Fastest: 2005-2007

Gama Bomb released their full-length début Survival of the Fastest through European music label Witches Brew in early 2006. The album, which had originally been independently released in a limited edition format in late 2005, included many of the bands then live staples of which many, aside from those present on previous EP releases, had never been commercially available. At this point the bands lineup changed with original guitar player Kevy Canavan leaving and the addition of drummer Paul Caffrey. In late 2005 Domo Dixon filled the vacant guitar spot. The 2006 version of the album features the bonus tracks "M.A.D." and "The Survival Option" from their 2004 Fatal Mission single. In April 2006, as the album was released, Gama Bomb embarked on their first UK tour. The "Insane Quest for Flesh" tour saw support from Mutant (London) and Deceptor (Birmingham) and is seen as a landmark event in the rise of the resurgent UK thrash scene.

Label shopping + Zombi Brew split 7" EP

After live dates in the summer of 2006, as well as coverage in music magazines like the NME and Terrorizer, Gama Bomb self-recorded a demo of their new album "Citizen Brain" to shop to interested labels. Seeking a larger label to help them tour Europe, the demo did the rounds with most of the major metal labels. Around this point Earache Records began to take serious interest in the band. In May 2007, Gama Bomb joined Hungarian thrash band Black Sister on a split 7" EP released by Problem? Records. The Gama Bomb side featured new tracks "Zombi Brew" (from the Citizen Brain demo) and "Frightmare On Hell St." together with a cover of punk band The Dangerfields' song, "Maniac". The EP was released exclusively on 7" vinyl and limited to 200 copies.

Earache and Citizen Brain: 2008-2009

In September 2007, Gama Bomb announced that they signed a recording contract with Earache Records. The band lent the song "Zombi Brew" to the "Thrashing Like A Maniac" compilation released by Earache Records, alongside other new Thrash artists such as Evile, Municipal Waste, Mutant (London), Short Sharp Shock and Send More Paramedics.
In April 2008 Earache confirmed the release of Gama Bomb's Earache debut Citizen Brain for early June 2008. The album was released in July 2008 to overwhelmingly positive reviews. The band toured Europe extensively to support the album.
Since the release of Citizen Brain, the band have been vocal in their support of music downloading, and led a campaign to 'Stamp Out Inferior Metal' on their 2008 Thrashing Like A Maniac Tour, asking fans to bring along CDs they regret buying and destroy them at shows.
In summer 2009, the band played mainstage slots at European metal festivals Hellfest in France and Tuska Open Air in Finland alongside Mötley Crüe, WASP, Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies.
In January 2009 they were voted best newcomer in a Terrorizer magazine readers' poll, and toured Europe with Exodus and Overkill in early 2009 as part of the Killfest tour.

Tales from the Grave in Space and Fourth Album : 2009 – Present

Gama Bomb announced via their MySpace blog in August 2009 that they were returning to the studio to record their third album Tales from the Grave in Space for a November 2009 release. The album was produced by Scott Atkins, who produced the band's Citizen Brain album.

On September 8 the band announced that Tales from the Grave in Space would be released online completely free on November 5 at earache.com/gamabomb via Rapidshare., making them the first metal band to ever release an album for free while signed to a record label. Issue 200 of the UK version of Metal Hammer sold in branches of Tesco also came with a copy of the CD as a free covermount.

A physical version of the album was later released. Bassist Joe McGuigan has said that despite it already being given away for free, Tales from the Grave in Space had actually outsold Citizen Brain physically.

In March 2010 Gama Bomb were nominated in the Best Underground Band category of the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, losing out to black metal band Immortal on the night. They supported Sepultura on their July UK tour.

The band embarked on their first US Tour, in support of Overkill, Forbidden and DRI, from October to December 2010, and played a series of shows in Europe beforehand with original lead guitarist Kevy Canavan back in the lineup, filling in for Domo Dixon.

In February 2011 Gama Bomb announced they would undertake a final UK tour to 'say goodbye' to Tales from the Grave in Space before writing a new album in the summer. The band also revealed a prospective new track would be titled The Cannibals Are In The Streets (Therefore) All Flesh Must Be Eaten via their Facebook profile that same month.

The band played a pair of shows in Mexico in May, toured the UK in support of Onslaught in September, undertook a European tour in October and played their first-ever South American shows in December, supporting Dark Funeral on a tour of Brazil.

Musical style and lyrical themes

Stylistically rooted in 1980s thrash metal the band have stated influences include acts such as Nuclear Assault, Kreator, Agent Steel, Sodom, old Slayer, and early Megadeth. Allmusic also labelled their music as punk metal (crossover thrash).

Gama Bomb's lyrics often refer to the horror, action and science fiction movies, cartoons and computer games of the 1980s, as well as paying tribute to many classic heavy metal themes. They also write topical songs on social issues like racism and global warming. The band is known for injecting their own sense of humour into their lyrics, with bizarre song concepts which lampoon classic thrash metal topics. Recurrent themes to be found in Gama Bomb songs are cannibalism, war, zombies, human sacrifice, ghosts and murder.

Members

• Philly Byrne: Vocals
• Joe McGuigan: Bass
• Luke Graham: Guitar
• Domo Dixon: Lead guitar
• Paul Caffrey: Drums

Discography

Albums

• 2006: Survival of the Fastest
• 2008: Citizen Brain
• 2009: Tales from the Grave in Space

Singles & EPs

• 2002: The Survival Option
• 2004: The Fatal Mission
• 2007: Zombi Brew
• 2010: Half Cut

External links

• Official website
• GamaBomb.com, in development
• Earache Records
• Luke Graham interview @ Metalfan.Ro - English