ALBUM REVIEW: Breaking The Trauma Bond – Voices
Variety, so they say, is the spice of life. So too, it would seem, does it make up the very building blocks of VOICES’ identity. The London collective have never shied away from tapping into every corner of the extreme musical spectrum to create their sound, and on fourth album Breaking The Trauma Bond, they’ve pushed the envelope once again to create their most ambitious work to date.
Starting with a beautiful, atmospheric opening that feels grand and cinematic, A Field Of Crows soon swan dives into gruffer terrain. An anguished wail, menacing spoken vocals and growled black metal phrases create a veritable appetiser for the listener, and, in just under three minutes, give a great snapshot of what’s to be expected throughout the album. However, to say that VOICES have shown their hand already is folly, as the title track blasts to life with a series of dark electronica bass stabs interspersed with jazz-tinged piano. It makes for one of the stand out intros on the record, and the way the song unfolds into everything we were promised in that opening teaser is as impressive as it is engrossing.
An Audience Of Mannequins opens with a LAMB OF GOD-esque pick scrape and pummelling instrumentation before frontman Peter Benjamin delivers the record’s heaviest and most stirring vocal performance that invokes everyone from TYPE O NEGATIVE’s Peter Steele to BEHEMOTH’s Nergal. Meanwhile, drummer David Gray delivers an absolute clinic that threatens to steal focus at some points, but consistently drives the track toward a breakdown conclusion that has the whole band playing to the most ferocious levels.
As strong as the opening of the album is though (and it is monumentally strong), something strange happens around the end of Petrograph, where the record takes something of a downturn. It’s hard to put your finger on what the issue is; are they trying to go to too many places with their sound? Does it become a bit too ‘on the nose’? Do they know they have you hooked?
Truth be told, it could very well be all of the above. Latest single Methods Of Madness has a touch of IDLES playing the music of DAUGHTERS about it, which just does not translate as well as one might think. Lyrically, the songs become more direct, which, at times, can feel a bit beneath them, and there is something about the clean vocal delivery around the middle of the album that doesn’t quite feel strong enough.
To be clear, there are still bright spots through the tail end of Breaking The Trauma Bond. Beckoning Shadows is the kind of song to get stuck in your head for days; My Sick Mind is a sparse, captivating number that NINE INCH NAILS would be proud of; and album closer Photographs Of A Storm Passing Overhead delivers another all-encompassing bout of everything VOICES gets so right (enough to forgive the Dalek having an existential crisis at the very end).
Undeniably VOICES’ most ambitious work to date, this is an album that really clicks when the elements are all there, but falters when it tries a bit too hard. The 16 songs and 68 minutes are an encouraging sign of the band’s continued growth. Now if they could just nail down the elements that really work and deliver the most streamlined, focused version of those aspects, they could very well produce a classic record.
Rating: 7/10
Breaking The Trauma Bond is set for release on November 26th via Church Road Records.
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