HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: The Terror Tapes – Gama Bomb
We’ve got a couple of dedicated old-school metalheads working here at Distorted Sound with an encyclopaedic knowledge of thrash. Some of our staff have spent way too much money tracking down rare ACID REIGN picture discs and could recite the names of everyone that’s ever been a member of ONSLAUGHT. We even have one writer who doesn’t just know who FORMICIDE are, but actually met them once. And not a single one of our committed thrashers can name an album from their favourite genre that features a song lyric about quiche, except for GAMA BOMB’s The Terror Tapes.
Released on 19th April 2013 via AFM Records, The Terror Tapes might seem like an odd choice to write about for Heavy Music History. When it came out, GAMA BOMB were already an established act on the UK’s vibrant thrash metal scene. Years earlier, their second album Citizen Brain (2008) saw them ride a wave of momentum all over Europe, and Terrorizer readers named them the best newcomers of 2009. They also made history when their third full-length, Tales From The Grave In Space (2009), became one of the first albums to be given away for free online by a band on a major label. Either one of those records would be an ideal choice for a big retrospective, so why are we ignoring them and focusing on The Terror Tapes instead?
Well, put simply, because it’s bloody great. The five-piece had already built a dedicated following by writing fast, catchy and riotously enjoyable thrash, but The Terror Tapes saw them firing on all cylinders. It’s just over thirty-five minutes long, but they squeeze a ridiculous number of catchy riffs and big choruses. These songs are short, frantic bursts of punkish energy and they’re brimming over with youthful enthusiasm. Four albums into their career, GAMA BOMB should have been worn down by the rigours of touring and years of record label politics, but they sound like they’re having a blast. The Terror Tapes’ impact wasn’t immediately obvious, but it’s arguably the album which cemented their reputation and confirmed that they were more than just a flash in the pan.
And there’s a line about quiche in it. The closing Wrecking Ball is unique in that it’s the only thrash song, and possibly the only song in the history of metal, to mention a delicious cheese pastry dish. They don’t go into much detail about whether it’s got any bacon or leeks in it, but there is a quiche on this record. It’s in the middle of a track about coke-hoovering yuppies that also has a Whitnail And I reference.
Why is this so significant? Because GAMA BOMB’s lyrics have always been one of their biggest selling points. They write songs about pop culture with authentic and uncynical joy. There’s a song on The Terror Tapes about Robocop, another that revolves around getting high with Willem Defoe, and one that appears to be about a brain in a jar experiencing a nervous breakdown. GAMA BOMB write songs with all the unfiltered enthusiasm of ten-year-old kids discussing the 18 certificate action film they were lucky to watch at the weekend, and it makes them incredibly endearing. Simply sitting down and reading the inlay is entertaining.
Against this backdrop, the rare flashes of social commentary are even more striking. GAMA BOMB are a long way from being a protest band, but they’ve got no time for the politics of hate and are more than willing to call out fascists whenever they encounter them. It’s a stance that’s nearly seen them get beaten up by Mussolini supporters in Italy and on The Terror Tapes, it’s channelled into Metal Idiot. It’s less than two and a half minutes of Nazi bashing and it’s brutally refreshing. Talk to the guy with the Swastika tattoo? Nah mate, kick his head in.
If we had to pick a favourite though, it would be Terrorscope. It’s a barnstorming and unbelievably catchy trip on a haunted fairground ride. The riffs are razor sharp, singer Philly Byrne demonstrates why he’s one of the most underrated frontmen in the game, and it never gets complicated. It’s a straightforward rush of light-hearted fun and it’s got a great music video too. The sight of the band accidentally watching a horror film and turning into thrashers is like watching every nineties child’s journey into metalhood in fast-forward.
Ten years on, GAMA BOMB haven’t really developed much but that was never the point. They’ve not once been rock stars or had larger-than-life personas. They’re your mates, the ones you can have the best nights of your life with when you’re just sat in a pub talking about The Thing. But they’re also the mates who will call you out for being a dick when your “legitimate concerns about immigration” lead you into dangerous territory. The Terror Tapes isn’t their breakthrough, and neither is it their most significant release, but it is a thoroughly underrated banger that doesn’t put one high-top-sneakered foot wrong.
Thank you for your cooperation.
The Terror Tapes was originally released on April 19 2013 via AFM Records.
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