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Gama Bomb are a
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
band based in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. The band's 2009 album '' Tales from the Grave in Space'' was one of the first albums released as a free download by a band signed to a record label.


History


Beginnings (2002–2005)

School friends Joe McGuigan and Philly Byrne formed Gama Bomb with guitarist Luke Graham in
Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...
in 2002. The band gained attention with their demo " The Survival Option" the same year. In 2003, they toured and released the single " The Fatal Mission". During this period Byrne often appeared on stage as a chef, priest, pirate or scientist. Gama Bomb's first tour dates outside Ireland were in 2004, supporting the punk band The Dangerfields on a tour of Scotland.


Debut album and search for label (2005–2007)

Gama Bomb released a full-length album, '' Survival of the Fastest'', independently in 2005 and then through Witches Brew in early 2006. At this point, original guitarist Kevy Canavan departed and drummer Paul Caffrey joined the band. In late 2005, Domo Dixon filled the vacant guitar spot. In April 2006, as the album was commercially released, Gama Bomb embarked on the "Insane Quest for Flesh" tour, their first UK tour, supported by Mutant and Deceptor. The album and tour gained them coverage in ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' and ''Terrorizer'', and Gama Bomb self-recorded a demo of their new album ''Citizen Brain'', seeking a larger label to help them tour Europe.
Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by r ...
took interest in the band. In May 2007, Gama Bomb joined the Hungarian thrash band Black Sister on a split 7-inch EP released by Problem? Records. The Gama Bomb side had new tracks "Zombi Brew" (from the ''Citizen Brain'' demo) and "Frightmare On Hell St.", together with a cover of the punk band The Dangerfields' song, "Maniac". The EP was released exclusively on 7-inch vinyl and limited to 200 copies.


Earache and ''Citizen Brain'': 2008–2009

In September 2007, Gama Bomb signed a recording contract with
Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by r ...
. The band contributed the song "Zombi Brew" to ''Thrashing Like A Maniac'', a compilation released by Earache that included other then-new thrash artists such as
Evile Evile are an English thrash metal band from Huddersfield, formed in 2004. They have experienced numerous line-up changes over the years, with drummer Ben Carter being the only member of the original line-up to have stayed consistently. The curr ...
,
Municipal Waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, a ...
, Mutant (London), Short Sharp Shock and Send More Paramedics. In July 2008, Earache released '' Citizen Brain'', and the band toured Europe extensively to support the album. The band became vocal in its support of music downloading, and led a campaign to 'Stamp Out Inferior Metal', asking fans to bring along CDs they regret buying and to destroy them at shows. In summer 2009, the band played mainstage bookings at the European metal festivals
Hellfest Hellfest (), also known as Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...
in France and Tuska Open Air in Finland alongside Mötley Crüe, WASP, Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies. In January 2009, Gama Bomb were voted best newcomer in a ''Terrorizer'' readers' poll. Also in early 2009, the band toured Europe with Exodus and Overkill as part of the Killfest tour.


''Tales from the Grave in Space'' (2009–2011)

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 had produced ''Citizen Brain''. On 8 September the band announced that ''Tales from the Grave in Space'' would be released online, completely free, on 5 November via RapidShare, making them the first metal band to release a free album while signed to a record label. Issue 200 of the UK version of ''Metal Hammer'', sold in branches of
Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
, came with a copy of the CD as a
cover mount Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...
. A physical version of the album was later released, and bassist Joe McGuigan reported that despite the album having already being given away for free, ''Tales from the Grave in Space'' actually outsold ''Citizen Brain'' physically. In 2010, Gama Bomb was nominated in the Best Underground Band category of the
Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards The following is a list of the ''Metal Hammer'' Golden Gods Awards winners. History The awards were conceived by Chris Ingham, John O'Sullivan & Dave Bianchi, and first held at the Kentish Town Forum in London 2003. The show was owned by Future P ...
but lost to Immortal. In July they supported
Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash met ...
on a UK tour, and in the autumn they embarked on their first US tour, supporting Overkill, Forbidden and DRI. The band toured extensively in 2011 as well, with two shows in Mexico in May, a UK tour in September, a European tour in October, and their first South American show in December while supporting
Dark Funeral Dark Funeral is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, founded by guitarists Blackmoon and Lord Ahriman in 1993. They emerged during the second wave of black metal. Their lyrical themes have traditionally pertained to Satanism and anti ...
in Brazil.


''The Terror Tapes'' (2012–2015)

In March 2012, the band revealed via Facebook that vocalist Byrne had undergone surgery for vocal fold nodules, sustained over the last year's touring, and was recovering from the procedure. During this period the band played a show in
Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...
, Netherlands, with McGuigan filling in for Byrne as the vocalist. On 3 April, the band announced that founding member Graham was leaving amicably after 10 years on rhythm guitar. John Roche of Slave Zero, who played with the band on tour in 2011, was selected to replace him. In July 2012, the band celebrated its tenth anniversary with two shows in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
and
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, reuniting on stage with the former guitarists Canavan and Graham for greatest-hits sets. The band's fourth album, '' The Terror Tapes'' was released on
AFM Records AFM Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Lordi, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, Redlight King, and Annihilator. In 2005, Can ...
on 19 April 2013 in Europe and 22 April in the UK and Ireland, followed by a US release on 7 May. The album was recorded in Dublin and Suffolk and produced by the band's long-time producer, Scott Atkins. The cover featured art by the veteran horror movie poster artist Graham Humphreys, whose work includes posters for ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American Supernatural horror film, supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), ''A ...
'' and ''
Evil Dead ''Evil Dead'' is an American horror franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series follows various characters as they battle demonic forces unleashed by an ancient book called the ''Necrono ...
''. The first single, "'Terrorscope", was released as a free download on 26 March, followed by a 7-inch vinyl maxi-single. Byrne said of the single's free release: "It was really important to us to give people some music for nothing. It's how we get our music and we want people to know we're cool with them doing that, as long as they support us. Support comes from a lot of different places, not just the front pocket." The video for Terrorscope was released on 20 March. To support the album, the band undertook the 'Speed of Sound' European tour with
Artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
and Brazilian band
Torture Squad Torture Squad is a Brazilian death/thrash metal band, founded in 1990. History Three years after being founded in 1990, the band entered a more professional phase, in a line-up with founder Cristiano Fusco on guitar, Wagner "Castor" on bass, A ...
in May, before playing a series of summer festivals.


''Untouchable Glory'' (2015–2018)

Gama Bomb released ''Untouchable Glory'' on 30 October 2015, with a launch gig at London's Camden Underworld on Halloween night. ''Untouchable Glory'' was recorded in Dublin and Omeath, Ireland, and Suffolk, England, over spring and summer 2015, with Scott Atkins again producing. The first song taken from the album 'Ninja Untouchables / Untouchable Glory' was released on 25 September 2015 with an accompanying music video. This was followed by a second single for the track 'She Thing' on 16 October. In preparation for the album, Byrne attended opera singing lessons in London as rehabilitation for his 2013 vocal surgery. The first song taken from the album 'Ninja Untouchables / Untouchable Glory' was released on 25 September 2015 with an accompanying music video. This was followed by a second single for the track 'She Thing' on 16 October. 2016 found the band touring throughout South America as well as headlining shows in Ireland and Europe.


''Speed Between the Lines'' and ''Sea Savage'' (2018–2021)

In March 2018 Gama Bomb returned to Scott Atkins's Grindstone studios in England to begin work on their sixth album, ''Speed Between the Lines''. Work would be undertaken on and off during the year as the band planned to mark the 10th anniversary of their Citizen Brain album with a series of European dates in the summer. ''Speed Between the Lines'' was released in October 2018 and was preceded by the 7-inch single and video for "Bring out the Monster", introducing the band's mascot, Snowy The Gamabombinable Snowman. In November 2019 the band played their first shows in Asia with two concerts at Japanese Assault Fest in Tokyo. In January 2020, the band announced the amicable departure of drummer Paul Caffrey after 15 years with the band. In May 2020, Gama Bomb announced their signing to
Prosthetic Records Prosthetic Records is an American record label specializing in Heavy metal music, heavy metal recordings, founded in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by E.J. Johantgen and Dan Fitzgerald. Prosthetic Records released the first two albums by Lamb o ...
and released Living For The Lockdown, a standalone single in support of Irish homelessness charity Dublin
Simon Community The Simon Community is a charity which helps homeless people, taking its name from Simon of Cyrene. It was founded in 1963 by Anton Wallich-Clifford, who had encountered many homeless people while working for the Probation Service at Bow Street ...
. The band would spend most of 2020 Self-producing their seventh album Sea Savage in isolation due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, with Vader and Decapitated drummer James Stewart guesting. The album was produced by guitarist Domo Dixon, mixed by Zack Ohren (Testament, Carcass) and was released on 4 December 2020. The album's art was once again created by Graham Humphreys, and featured a redesigned version of the band's mascot, Snowy. The lead single Sea Savage featured a music video shot on location at
Fanad Fanad (official name: Fánaid) is a peninsula that lies between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay on the north coast of County Donegal, Ireland. The origin of the name Fanad derives from the Irish language word Fána for "sloping ground". It is als ...
lighthouse in
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...
, referencing the 2019 film The Lighthouse. Singles Sheer Khan and Lords of the Hellfire Club followed.


''Bats'' (2023–present)

2020 saw the addition of former Shrapnel drummer, Chris Williams join the band as their touring drummer, completing the line up once more. In 2023, the band released a single of a folk cover featuring the singer "Spider Stacy" from Irish band
The Pogues The Pogues are an English Celtic punk band founded in King's Cross, London, in 1982, by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer. Originally named Pogue Mahone—an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish phrase :wikt:póg mo thóin, ''pà ...
, it was the first piece of "new" material since 2020 and is unknown if there will be a new album. On September 11, 2023, the band released a new single, "Speed Funeral", and announced their upcoming album, ''Bats'', would be released on November 10. On September 3, 2024, it was announced that former Shrapnel drummer Chris Williams was officially a member of the band having been the touring drummer since 2020. Chris finished up with Shrapnel at the end of 2024.


Snowy 'The Gamabombinable Snowman'

The band make use of their own mascot - depicted as a humanoid 'yeti' monster - on their merchandise, music videos and album art. The character was introduced in the 2018 song and music video for Bring Out The Monster, making its first appearance on an album sleeve with 2020's Sea Savage. The figure of Snowy was key to the concept of Sea Savage, which was presented as a Victorian stage play about the band voyaging in search of the yeti. Snowy makes on-stage appearances as part of Gama Bomb's stage shows.


Musical style and lyrical themes

Stylistically rooted in 1980s
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
the band has stated that its influences include acts such as
Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, ...
,
Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mille Petrozza, Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen Reil, Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli- ...
,
Agent Steel Agent Steel is an American speed metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1984 by vocalist John Cyriis with drummer Chuck Profus. The band released two full-length albums and one EP before disbanding in 1988. They were most notable for Cyriis' ...
, Sodom, old
Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...
and early
Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
labelled their music as
punk metal A number of overlapping punk rock subgenres have developed since the emergence of punk rock (often shortened to ''punk'') in the mid-1970s. Even though punk genres at times are difficult to segregate, they usually show differing characteristics i ...
(
crossover thrash Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover) is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre emerged in the mid-1980s, when hardcore punk bands, such as Suicidal Tendencies, Cryptic Slaughter, Corrosion of Conformity and Dir ...
). 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 Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
. The band is known for injecting its own sense of humour into its lyrics, with bizarre song concepts which lampoon classic thrash metal topics.


Members

*Philly Byrne – vocals (2002–present) *Domo Dixon – lead guitar (2005–present) *John Roche – rhythm guitar (2012–present) *Joe McGuigan – bass (2002–present) *Chris Williams – touring (2020–2024) drums (2024-present)


Past members

*Steve Campbell – lead guitar (2002) *Kevy Canavan – lead guitar (2002–2005) *Luke Graham – rhythm guitar (2002–2012) *Damien Boyce – drums (2002–2004) *Ronan Fitzpatrick – drums (2004–2005) *Paul Caffrey – drums (2005–2020)


Timeline


Discography


Studio albums

*'' Survival of the Fastest'' (2006) *'' Citizen Brain'' (2008) *'' Tales from the Grave in Space'' (2009) *'' The Terror Tapes'' (2013) *'' Untouchable Glory'' (2015) *''Speed Between the Lines'' (2018) *''Sea Savage'' (2020) *''Bats'' (2023)


Singles and EPs

*" The Survival Option" (2002) *" The Fatal Mission" (2004) *" Zombi Brew" (2007) *" Half Cut" (2010) *''Terrorscope'' (2013) *''Give Me Leather'' (2018) *''Living for the Lockdown'' (2020) *''Thunder Over London'' (2021) *''Necronomicon Automaton'' (2025)


Compilation contributions

*''Thrashing Like a Maniac'' (2007)


References


External links


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* {{Authority control Heavy metal musical groups from Northern Ireland British thrash metal musical groups Earache Records artists Musical groups established in 2002 Musical quintets from Northern Ireland 2002 establishments in Northern Ireland