Trauma
DetermiNation

We certainly didn't need it, but to remind us that the music business sucks, the Polish Trauma remind us once again in the past year, 2005. I believe very few people know them, but these five guys continue to grit their teeth and push forward since the mid-eighties (1986 to be precise, before I was even born).

Growing up in a land where the only Death metal representatives were Vader, who were very influenced by Thrash, Trauma had to go through a long apprenticeship before managing to release a decent full-length album; it was “Daimonion,” a raw calling card from this unfortunate band. However, 1998, the year the aforementioned album was released, also saw the birth of two other Polish musical realities, Sceptic (dedicated to a particular Progressive Death that immediately garnered the attention of the snobbier metalheads) and the young Decapitated (dedicated to a Brutal Death and therefore more suited to violence-seeking audiences, and in my opinion, overrated). Trauma was quickly overshadowed by these bands and continue to produce albums without gaining a huge following: their Death, blatantly inspired by fellow countrymen Vader as well as early nineties European Death (Bolt Thrower and Sinister to name a couple) and by Death from the “Symbolic” period, does not capture the attention of the masses, and the reviews, albeit excellent, go unheard.

The peculiarity of this band lies in their ability to incorporate very evocative, almost epic passages (but don't misunderstand me, their style is far from Power Metal) in their compositions, creating a sort of “legendary” aura. Generally, it cannot be said that the global Death metal scene evolves thanks to their contribution, but they nonetheless represent a unique side of this genre; their sound is similar to that of many other bands, but the previously described peculiarity is enough to distinguish them from many other colleagues. Utilizing good instrumental techniques, Trauma have managed to refresh traditional Death metal without venturing into Brutal, using its musical clichés only minimally and leaving the rest to decidedly personal taste. The Death as they understand it is almost closer to the Swedish kind, without however, going overboard with melody or sweetening the violent passages. After “Daimonion,” they sequentially released “Suffocated In Slumber” in 2001 (a fairly violent album closer to American Death), “Imperfect As A God” in 2004 (decidedly less heavy but still under the influences of its predecessor), and this “Determination,” the final chapter of the trilogy, if you can call it that.

The CD harkens back more to “Imperfect As A God” but proves to be more complete and structured than the latter. Surely, there will be those who criticize it as being a clone album, but it isn't so. The differences are especially noticeable regarding their stylistic approach; the songwriting remains virtually unchanged: the songs are divided into melodic openings, blast beat outbursts, and various bridges, some of which, to be honest, are quite predictable. Worthy of consideration are the solos, very technical and original in alternating solo pieces with others that are paired; the vocal performance, however, stands decidedly above the rest, always teetering between screaming and growling (fairly clear but powerful) and able to provide each song with the right expressiveness. The bass, while not doing exceptional things, is audible and perfectly complements the work of the others: its lines maintain precision without being overwhelmed by the other instruments. The credit also goes to an almost perfect production, worthy of an “… And Justice For All.” The drummer is superb, technically the best-prepared of the group, who certainly would not be out of place even in more extreme bands. Lots of off-beats, lots of blast beats, many interesting passages, and above all, precision that does not stifle personality.

“Determination” is an album that pleases everyone a bit; those seeking something grandiose, those looking for human-sized violence, and those simply in search of a good Death Metal record. The band proves once again capable of challenging anyone at any time with good chances of winning the fight, being one of the few underground realities you can always count on.

Ps: Given that lately I've been accused of aggravated partiality and a tendency toward pro-Death Metal, I consulted my lawyer (a supporter of Power/Epic instead) who warmly advised me to resolve the controversy by starting every sentence with "In my view" or "As far as I'm concerned" or "My judgment is such that" or an English-influenced "In my opinion." But he's very into Fantasy, so he loves redundant things, whereas I prefer clear things. Be satisfied with the single, uppercase, initial "in my view" (and make sure you read it even before the stars) and now re-read the whole review ("In my view we certainly didn't need it, but to remind us that in my view the music business sucks, in my view the Polish Trauma return”… “in my view an album that pleases everyone a bit”… and so on and so forth)... How democratic I am... I would marry myself for how democratic I am...