Damaged System

China certainly doesn't jump out as being a country rich in thrash metal. But along comes the oddly-named Tumourboy sounding like they've been bathing in Municipal Waste, and chowing down on Uncle Slam's cookies. There's no denying these boys' credentials as thrash artists. Damaged System, their debut album, is rife with all the characteristics of a thrash-revival release; flailing drums, snappy song structures, lyrics about toxic-nuclear-skateboarding-beer-holocausts, and barked vocals replete with gang-shouts. Actually, back up on that one...

Whilst this album certainly hones those aspects to a tee, all their efforts seem to be spoiled by the incredibly sloppy vocal performance from Mu. I understand English is definitely not their mother tongue, and crossover thrash is supposed to be messy and oafish, but it doesn't excuse him sounding like Scrappy Doo after two bottles of Kraken. Such odd phrasing and pitches really grate on the ears. Especially in the verses of "Sacrifice Of Technology" where he appears to have eaten a poisonous berry and lost all use of his tongue.

It's a good job vocals are not the prominent factor of their music, and that the rest of the band (including Mu's rhythm guitar) are more or less en pointe. Aided by an excellent production quality, the riffs are clear, the drum fills are both precise and wild, and the gang-shouts provide a much-needed accentuation at the right points. This is exemplified perfectly in the frantic "UxFxAx" which displays all of these characteristics in under 2 minutes. The only glaring issue is I find my myself asking: does the metal community need more of this?

Thrash metal is my number one passion in life. But certain styles are confined to the eras they were birthed for good reason. This brand of retro skater-boy nu-thrash had its time - and if you're not going to add anything to the formula, you're not going to elevate your sound beyond making a few metalheads nod approvingly for half an hour. Tumourboy give us 26 minutes of passable, and at times very good, retro thrash in the form of Damaged System. But give it a few months and they will fade away into obscurity.

Originally written for www.metal-observer.com