Mothercare
Traumaturgic

After an excellent debut in 2003 as "Breathing Instructions" (which also featured the legendary Mark "Barney" Greenway and Enrico Giannone from the Italian band Undertakers), the Veneto-based Mothercare reach their second album in 2005 with this "Traumaturgic".

Compared to the debut, our band's death/thrash influence has come more to the forefront. This element is noticeable in the sharp and tight riffing of guitarist Mirko Nosari, the true engine of the band. The singer Guillermo Gonzales does not hold back at all, alternating between intense screaming, "ignorant" growls (the ghost of the aforementioned Greenway and the early Max Cavalera are always lurking), suggestive clean vocals, and even spoken parts in Japanese. The rhythm section, for its part, creates square and powerful rhythmic patterns; in this case, the never intrusive percussive inserts by Mauro Zavattieri are fundamental.

The opener "Apnea" immediately clarifies the stylistic coordinates the album will follow: a death metal that draws from hardcore as well as grind, with some interesting modernist deviations of industrial/noise style. Songs like "Learn to die slowly" or "Slow shadows" (featuring fretless passages that recall the best of Steve Di Giorgio) clearly showcase the more melodic side of the group, with never trivial choruses supported by Guillermo’s eclectic clean vocals. Not to mention the incredibly violent "Senseseedsex" which features the participation of Mieszko Talarczyk (RIP) alternating his lacerating screams with spectacular accelerations; the killer riffs of "Kuro Kiroku" and "Reverse Vortex" (where we find guest Gianmaria Carneri, leader of the Italian techno-thrashers Aneurysm) and also "NQNL," certainly the most experimental track, with a surprising jazzy and atmospheric finale by another guest on this record, Davide Tiso, guitarist of the eccentric Ephel Duath.

A commendable note goes to the cover of Napalm Death "Breed to Breathe", revisited according to our band’s style and not excessively distorted. Each song here offers infinite elements and ideas, and it would be hardly representative to try and describe them all. Be aware that there are no dips in tension.

"Traumaturgic" should be listened to in one breath to fully appreciate its compactness and intrinsic depth. These guys have even coined a personal term to represent their music: "pain-core metal"... music that places emotions and feelings related to suffering to the forefront. We can only agree with them... it's only a fucking pain-core attitude...