Traumatize - Torment

After the 'Death Dealer' demo, which admittedly, I didn't like, Poland's Traumatize return with their first attempt at becoming a fully fledged Dark Electro act, 'Torment'.

Traum (concept, vocals, lyrics and production) recently recruited Miss Lasher (Keyboards, Music, Lyrics) into the ensemble, strengthening their live show and developing their ideas. This album, interestingly starts with an intro called "She's Dead", which reminds me VERY strongly of the bittersweet "Aeris Theme" from Final Fantasy VII. Intentional or not, it's very intricate.
My issues with the 'Death Dealer' demo were that the sound didn't know if it wanted to be Rhythmic Noise or Dark Electro, and it ended up creating a sound that was neither memorable or easily digestible. Initial indications here suggest that the sound is more established Dark Electro, but there are still flaws...

On a musical level, "My Heart is Bleeding" is much better than earlier attempts, but there's one overused sample in the song that plays far, far too often. Some of the tracks simply aren't memorable to me, but then there's some that are just alright. Traumatize seems to be more focused on samples that stand out, over music that stands out, and this is a worry to me, especially at 16 tracks.

I have to be honest with the band, and honest with myself, and there is simply a lot of work to still do here. However, the steps that have been taken in the right direction are huge ones, the sound is no longer confusing, and the addition of Miss Lasher will further the development of the project. Having the legendary Say Just Words remix one of the tracks is also a good PR move. About 45% of this CD is at the standard I would expect from a newer act, and the rest is experimental and not without talent, but yet to find its own sound.

Slightly boring at times, I am sorry to say, but not so much so that I cannot listen to it. Also slightly better than similar act Unsinn, who I am waiting to hear a new CD by. Sep 06 2011