{"id":34384,"date":"2013-11-10T08:34:32","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T13:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=34384"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:38:54","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:38:54","slug":"trauma-scratch-and-scream-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/trauma-scratch-and-scream-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Trauma | Scratch and Scream<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TraumaHere is one of the best releases of 2013: an old obscure record by a little-known metal band with some even more obscure bonus tracks featuring Cliff Burton. The band is Trauma \u2013 one of Bay Area thrash pioneers of the early 80s, and Scratch and Scream<\/em> was their only album released in 1984. After sustaining a cult underground status for almost 30 years, it now gets a new lease on life thanks to Shrapnel now reissuing it as a CD for the first time in the US. What adds to the buzz are three bonus tracks with Cliff Burton on the bass, recorded when he still played in Trauma before defecting to Metallica. <\/p>\n

The press release allusively talks about \u201cprogressive metal\u201d, but what we have here sweats and bleeds pure thrash. Although thrash at its tadpole stage where the guitar parts sound like Ritchie Blackmore on steroids and the vocals oscillate between the inspired and the ridiculous. On opener \u201cThe Day All Hell Broke Loose\u201d drummer Kris Gustofson lets the drum kit have it like all get out, and everything else bounces off that \u2013 the rabid riffing, the breakneck solos, and the howling vocals on top. The dire recording quality and the even more appalling production can\u2019t stop this track from bulldozing you off your feet. <\/p>\n

The next piece of lunacy titled \u201cBringing the House Down\u201d does exactly that, and here you also learn that apart from explosive super-fast chops the band also writes instant-grip songs. Tracks that follow whip out a hodgepodge of raucous mini-gems and some half-cooked ideas. But the heat of high-speed, note-perfect guitar solos parboils even the most underdone songs to punchy tang.<\/p>\n

The Burton-featuring tracks turn out a mixed bag too, although production sounds better. \u201cSuch a Shame\u201d can\u2019t flaunt much apart from solid bass parts, but wait for the punky number titled \u201cWe\u2019re Going Off\u201d. When it steps away from the verse \/ chorus roundabout into a jam, Burton simply starts a fire. The barn-burning bass solo would sound right at home at an acid house rave: utterly futuristic and riotously fun. And when the guitar occasionally joins Burton in his far-out extrapolations, it baffles you how much a genius bassist can expand a guitarist\u2019s mind. <\/p>\n

Closing track \u201cWoman Be Gone\u201d is a Sabbath-esque ballad and would sound unremarkable, if not for the poetic undercurrent of Burton\u2019s bass lines. The inspired dialogue of the bass and the guitar sticks the knife in and turns it as you realise how cruelly we\u2019ve all been robbed when Burton died aged only 24. A latitude from futuristic experiments, to helping invent a new genre, to mystery-steeped lyricism has never been winged with such audacity by a rock bassist ever since. <\/p>\n

Genre: Thrash Metal, Punk, Experimental<\/p>\n

Personnel:
\nMichael Overton \u2013 guitar
\nDonny Hillier \u2013 vocals
\nKris Gustofson \u2013 drums
\nRoss Alexander Merson \u2013 guitar
\nLucas Advincula \u2013 bass<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1. The Day All Hell Broke Loose
\n2. Bringin\u2019 the House Down
\n3. I Kill for Less
\n4. Scratch and Scream
\n5. The Warlock
\n6. Lay Low
\n7. In the End
\n8. We are Watching You
\n9. The Flight of the Raven<\/p>\n

Bonus Tracks:
\n10. Such a Shame (feat. Cliff Burton on bass)
\n11. We\u2019re Going off (feat. Cliff Burton on bass)
\n12. Woman be Gone (feat. Cliff Burton on bass)<\/p>\n

Label: Shrapnel Records<\/p>\n

Online: http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Trauma_(band)<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alissa Ordabai – Senior Columnist — Here is one of the best releases of 2013: an old obscure record by a little-known metal band with some even more obscure bonus tracks featuring Cliff Burton. […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":34386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[2317,6268,3233,8281,1101],"class_list":{"0":"post-34384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-experimental","10":"tag-punk","11":"tag-shrapnel-records","12":"tag-thrash-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}