UMUR
"Citizen Brain" is the second full-length studio album by UK (Northern Ireland) crossover/thrash metal act Gama Bomb. The album was released through Earache Records in June 2008. It´s the successor to the independently released debut album "Survival of the Fastest" from 2005. There have been a couple of lineup changes since the predecessor as guitarist Kevy Canavan has been replaced by Domo Dixon and drummer Ronan Fitzpatrick has been replaced by Paul Caffrey.
Lineup changes or not, stylistically "Citizen Brain" pretty much continues the crossover/thrash metal style introduced on "Survival of the Fastest (2005)". The band have stuck to their guns and have produced another high energy, aggressive, and raw album. They play a style of music which was quite popular in the mid- to late 80s, and even make odes to the era/scene on "Thrashoholic" and "Bullet Belt". In many ways they have a similar approach to contemporaries Municipal Waste (or an 80s act like Acrophet), but there are some differences too and while Gama Bomb don´t exactly play a unique style of music or have a style which is distinctly their own, they still stand out for other reasons.
Most significally they are skilled musicians and the music is delivered with great power and conviction. Sharp thrashy riffs, a hard hittin´ and powerful playing rhythm section, and some very well played guitar solos as icing on the cake. Lead vocalist Philly Byrne doesn´t have the most distinct sounding voice, but his voice and the way he delivers the vocals work well with the instrumental part of the music. He predominantly sings raw staccato vocals, but occasionally he performs a higher pitched scream which is a great weapon in his vocal arsenal. As mentioned above some tracks on the album are odes to the 80s thrash metal scene, while others are about zombies/horror/gore, figthing, sci-fi, and environmetal issues. So the lyics are pretty typical for this type of music.
"Survival of the Fastest (2005)" was a really strong debut album by Gama Bomb, but "Citizen Brain" is everything you could have wished for in a sophomore release. There hasn´t been much stylistic development, but it´s actually not an issue in this case, as Gama Bomb already have a very mature sound. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.