Polish long-time running (since 1992) death metallers Trauma have just releasd their seventh full lengh studio album,'Archetype of Chaos'. They have always been one foot in present and other in the past, and this album is no different.

Trauma do not sound "typical" Polish death metal, by which I mean Vader, Behemoth and such names. Trauma's death metal is driving for sure, even embodying modern day groove trend. After atmoshere setting intro, 'Cortex Deformation' demonstrates the groove element in full effect. After churning and blasting inferno with which the song start, it moves into more atmospheric domains. 'A Dying World' is like a blast from the past with its old school savagery. One noticeable factor of Trauma is their use of pictoresque guitar melody work. However, melodies are used in small-scale, not as main point of any song. Otherwise it feels a bit like that that the band aren't very distinctive from the horde of death metal bands, but do their job well enough. Industrial feel, Mideastern intonations and such procedures are utilized to lift atmosphere. Sometimes songs are simply overlong, for example brutal 'War Machine' might work much better if it was around four minutes in length. Generally, it is the variety, that this album lacks off for some measure. Therefore the twisted 'The Slime' plays an important role. But it alone does not help, because most songs just do not include enough catchy bits and drift into mediocrity. It might get epic, like massive 'Destruction Of The Demented World', but it comes too late to support the album.

Playing is intense and professional. It is brutality over technical display, but still not forgetting the latter. I love varying drumming and excellent guitar work, but low-growled vocals are, even though brutal and fitting, totally one-sided. Massive production suits the brutality well. There's loads of atmosphere in the production, and I suggest everyone to listen to album with headset, it really lifts out more sides for it! Good lyrics (about fake religions, politics and violence) and artwork get thumbs up.

Brutal, but definitely not chaotic, 'Archetype of Chaos' is not exactly what its title suggests. I wanted to like this album much, much more, but average song material left me badly disappointed. Tighter song writing would do wonders for these songs. Not bad, just too mediocre, which has some great moments, like the shiniest star 'Destruction Of The Demented World'. Now that's a fantastic song!

This album needs time to open!!! And when listened with a headset, it just gets so much better.

The truth is, that the songs aren't badly written. There's a lot to be explored here, and when listened with a headset, the atmosphere can be cut with a knife. It's rare when a death metal band manage to create as atmospheric album as this is.

My original score was 7+ (on June 7th 2010), but now it is...

Rating: 8 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
07/27/2010 19:00