Album Review: Tumourboy – Damaged System (Witches Brew)

Originating from Beijing & formed by 4 thrash mad fans. Tumourboy’s debut album, Damaged System, was released on January 31st 2017 via Witches Brew.

Damaged System has a real old-school thrash feel about it. From the classic sounding riffs to the high-pitched vocals, it’s got bags of rhythm & style even if it lacks originality. Opening song Chernobyl Devastation comes charging out of the gates but initially stumbles.

Thankfully some glorious sounding guitar riffing really brings it back around. The final minute of the song is head-bangingly good. It doesn’t even pause for a second before launching straight into Bitch Holocaust, a small problem when it comes to differentiating between tracks as the similar sounding beats all start to bleed into one another.

The thing is every time a particular song is sounding a little tired, Tumourboy drop something in that freshens it up & keeps things moving along nicely. A slight tempo drop, a change in beat/riff or just a small direction change. It’s enough to keep things exciting.

The bass-heavy moments of Noise, Beer, Love are a great example of this. An uneventful song for the most part, it’s lifted by this brief moment.

Sacrifice of Technology is arguably the best song on the entire album. One that will stick with you long after thanks to its catchy riff-led beat & backed up some fantastic drumming & early ‘Dave Mustaine’ like vocals. It’s got a real snarl about it & although it repeats a fair bit, it never gets old.

There are a lot of moments throughout Damaged System that will see you raise an eyebrow or two. The title track really puts much more focus on the vocals & the reality is that they’re just not very good. Losing the high pitched Judas Priest style, it goes for a more spoken word style but there just isn’t enough talent there to make it sound remotely interesting.

Elsewhere the music does the talking. Bay Serial Killer has a stunning guitar solo (the best of the album) before Breathless finishes things off with a short, sharp blast of thrash metal. The title is quite apt as it will leave you gasping for air.

Tumourboy have made a great sounding old school thrash record that has flashes of brilliance. It’s far from perfect but it’s short run-time keeps things on target for the most part. It’s not going to change the world of thrash but it really doesn’t have too. Enjoy it for what it is, a smash-mouth guitar driven slab of old-school metal.

Damaged System Full Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. Chernobyl Devastation
3. Bitch Holocaust
4. Noise, Beer, Love
5. Sacrifice of Technology
6. UxFxAx
7. Damaged System
8. Bay Serial Killer
9. Breathless

Damaged System is out now via Witches Brew & available to buy digitally or stream via major streaming sites. You can also pick it up via Bandcamp here as well as through Witches Brew’s catalogue here. Check them out via Facebook & YouTube.