I just picked it on a whim cause I was already planning to listen to it ten minutes later.

I updated the OP with a Youtube link to the album. My bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWcuF0eqQzw

Oh and yes the **** it is. I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of it at this point but it ****ing destroys.

Traumatic Voyage - Traumatic
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3z94BmfKJ0...ic%2Bcover.jpg

This is a slightly unconventional death metal record. Due to the reverb drenched vocals and their distand location in the mix, plus the icy, dark riffs that appear at times, this album almost had a sort of black metal vibe at times. It also reminded me of some rather gothic, "depressive" metal - most of all the old Katatonia album Dance of December Souls. The vocals and goth stylings very much pushed parts of the album in that direction at times.
They find plenty of time for more standard death metal grinding too, and that's easily what I enjoyed the least about this album.

When it goes for some fantasy roleplaying horror keyobards it's great. Jump to the 18:00 minute mark and wait a bit. You'll see what I mean. THIS is the stuff I really like on this disc.

I also noticed that the production of the album is sort of unusual. Gone are the boring, clicky drums that so much death metal suffers from. Instead, we get some reasonably organic sounding drums with some good low end to them. I liked this aspect of the production, but the guitars are almost too buzzy and aren't made to sound any clearer or heavier due to the near total absence of bass guitar in the mix. Actually, I think I hear the bass guitar, but it has this weird chorus effect on it that makes it sound way too trebly and unclear in the mix.

I know death metal like this isn't supposed to be well produced as such, but I really want some more bottom end in my death metal than this album offers. Thanks to the pummeling drums and the dramatic, wailing vocals, the album does sound decent enough on headphones. It's just not very heavy or very good when it specifically tries to be so.

Not sure what to make of it as a whole. Some songs were a bit more memorable than other tracks, but overall, I enjoyed the least death metal moments most of all. I can't really imagine coming back to this repeatedly, but it does have some charm.

7/10 skulls my death metal scale, which is different from a normal 10 scale in that I'll rate albums according to how much I expect from the genre, which isn't much.

That's putting it lightly. Generally when you hear death metal and black metal mixed it's pretty straightforward: the bludgeoning of death metal mixed with the raw intensity of black metal. Most bands don't really seem to explore the complexities or possibilities of either genre, but Traumatic Voyage weave in and out of both however they feel like, while also mixing in gothic death doom (Katatonia) and a million other things at various times. About halfway through "Shattered Dreams" the vocalist does this wailing that sounds to me closer to PiL than anything else.

Who is PiL?
You're probably completely right about it being more than just "slightly" unusual for a death metal album. I was just thinking that mixing those two genres has become a lot more common in recent years, but I still can't mention an album that sounds much like this one does.

despite my earlier comments i'm listening to the album right now. if i care about it i'll be back shortly with my thoughts.

Who is... srsly?

*throws a rock*

Nope. No one ever told me about that band before. I will say this song is pretty good so far.

Even I knew that!

It's the band Johnny Rotten formed after the Sex Pistols broke up. Seminal post-punk band and you should probably check out their first two albums at the very least.

I somehow feel that Elph would be offended by the turn this thread just took.

I'm very, very surprised at how much I like this. I've never cared for Sex Pistols one bit and never thought of Johnny Rotten as a guy worth paying attention to, but I really like the unusual vocal approach on this project. The music is quite interesting too. Definitely more so than regular punk, which isn't something I really care about.

It's not like he's gonna read a thread about metal though.

Damn. Get on some post punkness, it's the best.

Definitely liked some of what I heard on that album. The first track especially, but I'm going to have to come back to it later. Very cool guitar and bass work in that first track.

Never thought I'd be the guy turning anyone on to PiL, but there you have it.

Death Metal Album Club reps Post-Punk bands in its first week: who woulda thunk it?

I like it when metal is post punkilated

This thread kind of lost it's focus post the punk entering. Hopefully it will reset to pre-punk again eventually.

*proto

Pronto

thought the album was pretty freaking rad. there's some moments where the vocals almost get into black-metal shriek territory and that adds a whole new level when you're used to borrowing old grumbling of basic death metal. a lot of blackened death gets monotonous after a few tracks but this thing is very low-key in it's diversity. you get some straight up pummelling death metal as well as some nice doom-y moments where the band slows down and drills you with these sludgy riffs before picking the pace back up. i listened on youtube so citing exact tracks is a little tough but i think it's the 3rd track Shattered Dreams that just straight up goes from synth intro into doom worship into death metal and then into some early Metallica-esque guitar work (around 12:40 in the album if you don't believe me.)

it's ironic, or coincidental, whatever, that my first post was about how i find death metal to be a rather boring and generic genre. then Batty brought this album out and ****ed me in the ass with it. props.

4/5

I got lucky tbh. I was downloading a bunch of prog/experimental death metal and this just so happens to be the best thing I've found over the last couple days.

a little mad it wasn't available on spotify tho cause i'm lazy

If it's not on Spotify I won't be listening. I'll be ready for the next album.

Some of the best things released in death metal aren't on spotify.

Spotify if possible, but I'm not cutting an album unless I can't find a link from somewhere else even if I have to upload it myself.

Traumatic Voyage—Traumatic...

This is very gothic/funeral/death/doomy...
I was bored considerably by this one. Needs more riffs.

Riffs: 1/10

You got somethin' against Yoo Choob son?

i can't follow the tracks very well so it makes it hard to review, also i never trust the sound quality with some versions that are uploaded. i mean whatever, if you guys say this album is that good then i'll use youtube, I'll get on it tomorrow.

Death metal is almost exclusively album-oriented. Individual tracks aren't very important.

oneofusoneofusoneofus

I would agree. Its about the album, as a whole in most cases.

Totally agree. "I really like track 4, you know, the one with the crazy riffing and constant tempo changes. Oh wait, that's all of the tracks." Death metal albums work great as a sort of tornado of riffs and solos where moments stand out to you but it's more about the overall atmosphere and just getting into the groove of it for 30-50 minutes.

Well? Don't keep us in suspense.

.

Oh ****. I'm too drunk for MB I guess.

damn batty way to ruin all the suspense i had created

what are we doing for the next album?? i know this round isn't done until tuesday but like are we doing a sign up sheet or is it random or what. i take forever to listen to a full album so having an album on deck would help.

We don't have one yet. Frownland said something about nominating albums and then voting on one or something. Sounded solid. Now explain it to me again, Frownie.

that sounds like a lengthy process

We all submit albums then we all listen to them then we all vote on them then we talk about tube one we voted on.