Band:	Gama Bomb
Album:	Bats
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	November 2023

01. Prologue: Under The Pyramids
02. Egyptron [feat. The Egyptian Lover]
03. Living Dead In Beverly Hills
04. Rusted Gold
05. Materialize
06. Mask Of Anarchy
07. Don't Get Your Hair Cut
08. Dreamstealer
09. Speed Funeral
10. Secular Saw
11. Bats In Your Hair

People like to deride pizza thrash as if it's the lowest denominator in terms of an art form: you know what I say? 

What have you got against pizza?! 

Sure, Bats isn't reinventing the wheel (or offering a new form of fusion cuisine), but Gama Bomb deliver an enjoyable and filling record at the least, so drop the act and grab yourself a slice of thrash, just like Mama used to make. 

Bats fits smoothly into Gama Bomb's discography, with it offering up the latest batch of fast, frenzied tracks topped with some humorous quips and self-effacing moments dotted throughout. Once the intro plays out, "Egyptron" sets the scene; the band's punky thrash leanings shine through with some funky Egyptian breaks interspersed between high-energy assaults. Iron Maiden may have had "Powerslave", but Gama Bomb have an Iron Pharaoh (I don't know Egyptian Top Trumps, which wins?). 

While Bats isn't the most consistent record (foreshadowing), when it clicks, it is a fun and enjoyable listen; cuts like "Rusted Gold", "Dreamstealer" and "Speed Funeral" make for some great pizza, I mean, thrash. Dixon and Roche keep the riffs coming, heaping them up as they haul them out the oven, while McGuigan boxes them up with an appealing and powerful performance. Bats is well produced, though lacking in personality or warmth; it does its job as well as it needs to, with each element well-balanced and given plenty of power. 

As alluded to earlier, for as good as some of the slices are on Bats, others lack the necessary toppings to make for a hearty serving. For example, "Materialize" sounds like an undeveloped joke that's thrown on there to try and work a circus-sounding riff into a song. While the rest of the album isn't as bland or poor tasting as "Materialize", cuts like "Living Dead In Beverly Hills" and "Don't Get Your Hair Cut" aren't exactly flavour town either, leaving you wanting to save your appetite for the good stuff elsewhere. 

Where was I? Oh, yeah! Pizza good, Bats OK.