Hi,
New reviews of the TRAUMASPHERE Tape were published!
BRUTALISM Webzine:
What we have here is a reissue of the only Traumasphere demo that dates back to 2001. The demo was self released in 2001 on CDr and it recently got a limited to 100 cassette tape reissue with different cover artwork.
Traumasphere was a death metal band from France. After releasing their demo, they changed name to Abyssal Suffering and then Ummon (both bands also made it only to one demo).
The Traumasphere demo is old school death metal with signs of progressive/experimental.
The opening track ‘Eradicated’s basic riff is an old school death metal riff and the vocals are classic death growls. The bass intonations in the end of the phrases are absolutely needed and well done. The rhythmic patterns and twist is very much 90’s. A slow break in the middle of the song with some melodic passages reminded me of the old Finnish scene. It was a great idea to accompany them with whispering vocals. The lead guitar parts are very good in the early 90’s ways.
There is always an obscure feeling in songs like ‘Awaken In The Chronosphere’. The numerous rhythmic changes give it a progressive touch. I suppose bands like Atheist or Pestilence (especially “Testimony Of The Ancients” era) were in their minds when writing the song. Some riffs may still be chaotic, but the band shows a will to technicality.
‘Orbital Grave’ is a keyboard/synth instrumental that takes the listener’s mind travelling in cosmos. It is really weird to think of a grave travelling in space forever. This could have been a Nocturnus intro.
‘Civilization?’ opening riff is a typical death metal riff of the 90’s. The growls are deep and the guitar tries to perform fast and technical. In my opinion they don’t succeed much in this because the result is chaotic at times. However, the mixing here doesn’t do justice to the song that will end in whispers.
The last song is ‘Organic Brain Lost In Vacuum’ and it is my favorite song of the demo. There is an evil drive in the way the bass is used here with some twisted subharmonies. The riff changes are nice and there is also an excellent use of the pauses. When the solo breaks the general sound level raises, but I suppose this is just the way it was recorded/produced.
Traumasphere demo is a typical death metal demo of its time. I suppose demo hunters already have it. If not, here is your chance to listen to a nice example of how European death metal sounded in the millennium while still being influenced by the 90’s.
https://brutalism.com/review/traumasphere-voidcall/
LORDS OF METAL Webzine:
Thousands of bands around the world make music and demos or play music on other sound carriers and 99% of that music will never be heard by the rest of the world. At first this was also the case with the French band Traumasphere, who in 2001 made a demo with technical death metal in the vein of Death, Incantation and Demilich. Just to indicate how underground metal can still be, Visceral Circuitry Records will release this demo again in 2018, on tape. Yes, a sound carrier that hardly anyone uses nowadays, although this form may also be making a comeback. And that while the band has not active for some time now. The music sounds exactly as it sounded in 2001 on the demo, namely as a demo often sounds and that is sometimes quite rudimentary and sloppy. But this gives the five songs something authentic and brings back a certain nostalgic feeling, from a time that many of the readers may not have experienced, namely a time that pioneering in the metal scene was still a thing. So on Voidcall there is technical death metal in the vein of Death in particular and the songs are very well composed and can be followed very well despite the demo quality. If you listen to the songs, it is almost a shame that the band has stopped, but if this re-release has enough commercial success, the band will probably start up again.
http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/en/reviews/view/id/38499
IMPERIUMI Webzine:
Vuosituhannen alussa toiminut ranskalaisbändi Traumasphere teki urallaan tiettävästi vain yhden demon ennen kuin vaihtoi nimeä. Myöhemmin Abyssal Suffering- ja Ummon-nimillä toiminut sooloprojekti toimi kaksikkona vain hetken ja duomuotoiselta bändiltä käteen jäänyt Voidcall julkaistiin vuonna 2001.
Viisi biisiä sisältävä ja noin vartin kellottava Voidcall on death metalia 90-luvun alun hengessä. Osa riffeistä on kimurantteja ja kokeellisia. Tempo heiluu nopeamman ja hitaamman paukuttelun välillä ja toisinaan se tuntuisi heiluvan tahattomastikin, ehkä silkan osaamattomuuden takia. Ilmiö, jonka varmasti monet kokemattomat bändit tunnistavat.
Voidcall tuntuukin soivan koko ajan yhtyeen taitorajojen ylärajoilla. Paikoin teknisyyttä tavoitteleva soitto on silkkaa kyvyttömyyttä, paikoin ihan kelpoa ysärivääntöä. Loppujen lopuksi kyse on kuitenkin demosta, jonka uusintajulkaisun tarpeellisuudesta voi olla montaa mieltä. Kasettimuotoon demon on kuitenkin pienlafka Visceral Circuitry Records pistänyt.
Tunkkaiset soundit ajavat asiansa. Örinälaulu on mitä on, mutta eipä tässä suurimpana ongelmana olekaan soundit tahi laulu, vaan takkuileva soitto ja tyyliään hakeva biisimateriaali. Kenelle tätä sitten voi suositella? Kasettifaneille ja keräilijöille. Muut jättäkööt teoksen omaan arvoonsa.
https://www.impe.fi/demos/2640/3477
Check out the music here:
https://visceralcircuitryrecs.bandcamp.com/album/voidcall