Rating: 9.2

Country: USA

Release Date: 1989/2005

Record Label: Wild Rags Records/Brain Ticket Records

Track list:
1. Endangered Species
2. Fossilized
3. Shock Treatment
4. Victims of Science
5. Gutter Rats
6. Walking Plague
7. Chemical Imbalance
8. Incubus
9. Observations
10. Crackdown
11. Ballistic
12. Forces of Nature
13. Sex Cult
14. Against The Grain
15. Vapor Lock

Band Website: Gammacide

Gammacide - Victims of Science (Reissue)

Varnam Ponville- Vocals
Rick Perry- Guitars
Scott Shelby- Guitars
Jamey Milford- Drums
Eric Roy- Bass

Fucking ruthless. Start with a fundamental base of depraved, anything-goes Vio-Lence recklessness, add a hefty spoonful of Demolition Hammer maul-and-massacre, a smidgen of Rigor Mortis hack-and-slash, a pinch of Devastation scorch-and-torch and a heaping dollop of Exodus ('Fabulous Disaster') rabidity, and you would be somewhere close in framing the aesthetic approach of Texas' Gammacide, more proof that late ‘80s/early ‘90s thrash metal need not suck the big one. I had, admittedly, remained wholly oblivious to this band's existence prior to Cheryl (Witches Brew)'s mention of them on the Barbarian Wrath board, but 23 spins of 'Victims Of Science' later, I can safely assert my place among the hordes who have been namedropping this well-kept secret all these years.

Indeed, the name of the game here is RIFFS UPON RIFFS UPON RIFFS UPON RIFFS, though the approach isn't quite as balls-to-the-wall and nihilistic as the more violent, impetuous outings that have adopted this template, ie 'Schizophrenia', 'Pleasure To Kill' and 'Bonded By Blood'. Rather, this is very much a late ‘80s album, in the sense that boasts streamlined and compact structure than the aforementioned records, while at the same time, doesn't entirely align itself with the wholly song-oriented intents of something like 'Beneath The Remains' or 'Fabulous Disaster'. Indeed, this record hovers over a grey area that bridges the untamed ravenousness of a 'Darkness Descends' with the calculated rifforama of a 'Extreme Aggression'. That is to say, method and madness, without allowing one to overwhelm the other. In other words, if you hold 'Idolatry', 'Tortured Existence' and 'Epidemic Of Violence' dear to your heart, you really should own this record already.

Vocals here are really VERY reminiscent of Steve Souza and Sean Killian (without being quite as OTT as the latter),Varnam Ponville exhibiting an unhinged, colorful edge to his intonations that are perfect foil to the broiling, seething, foaming-at-the-mouth riff-throwing that ensues throughout the record's duration. Sheet upon sheet of razor-sharp riffing dominate, while the requisite bass/snare bashing and throbbing, root-note bass guitar coagulate with the riffage to form a fearsomely cataclysmic racket that somehow manages to temper naked aggression with precision and clever, well-conceived arrangements without sounding like tepid, overdeliberated trash. There's a fair amount of material here that can be classified broadly as “death thrash”, particularly the break that ensues 2 and a half minutes through “Fossilized”, which flaunts all the casket-pounding carnivorousness of 'Leprosy'-era Death and early Morbid Angel (as well as an AWESOME spiraling solo….TOTAL GREATNESS!). Other highlights would include the unadulterated, torrential riffpour of “Incubus”, where the Gammacide boys throw all restraint out the window in lieu of stampeding, innard-devouring, unrelentingly FIERCE thrash that sounds quite a bit messier than the rest of the record, and proceeds to issue the most awe-inspiringly thrash break beatdown on the record (02:10 through, absolutely on par with any Anthrax, Nuclear Assault or Overkill breakdown you can name!). “Chemical Imbalance”, meanwhile, sounds like Displeasures Of The Flesh on fast forward, while “Gutter Rats” flaunts a ripped-to-the-tits, tremolo sensibility that lays any contemporary black metal to waste.

Of further interest to longstanding Gammacide fans is the fact that 2 new tracks are offered here, “Against The Grain” and “Vapor Lock”, both written following the obscure 1991 demo (which has also been appended here). Both tracks, predictably, mark the next logical progression in a band endeavoring to further refine and streamline their sonic approach, the flesh-flaying ferocity of 'Victims Of Science' being funneled into a medium which is cleaner, more deliberate than anything that preceded it. “Vapor Lock”, in particular, portrays a band more intent on exploring the innate potential of the riff, opening with a lumbering, ponderously doomy plod that was heretofore unchartered territory for Gammacide. Both tracks are fucking killer, of course, but comparing this material to that which followed it is like holding 'Forward To Termination' up to 'Torment In Fire'…both are fantastic, but the rambunctious, demonic, audacious edge of one invariably triumphs over the other's more carefully construed attack. All in all, an ESSENTIAL purchase for anybody who has ever claimed to enjoy thrash metal, and a record that more than holds its own against any of its illustrious Texan brethren.

December 18th, 2005