### Trauma: Comedy is over

#### 15/07/10 || Daemonomania

Forget the last episode of Seinfeld, bitch, Trauma (not the dude) declared comedy is OVER back in 1996! No slapstick, rom-coms, or fart jokes for these serious Poles. Just grim-faced existential determination in the face of an evil universe. Metal!

This being their debut, Trauma (not the dude) didn’t quite have all the pieces to the pierogi puzzle together yet. I hear a strong attempt to be Death throughout. Since Death was the greatest band past, present, and future in any genre ever, not a bad influence to have. ‘Tis certainly not an easy task to emulate SkeleChuck and his ever-changing minions. Hoping against hope that “Comedy is over” succeeded? Then I got bad news for you, pal. If Trauma (not the dude) had pulled off something comparable to “The sound of perseverance” on their first attempt, we’d certainly be talking about them a lot more today.

What’s missing among the winding song structures and artsy flourishes are the riffs. Maybe the muddy production kills a few of ‘em, but production alone cannot be blamed for a low six-string sperm count. Not that the Traumatarists (not the dudetarist) sucked in the long term. A scant four years later, “Suffocated in slumber” proved the axemen in question acquired ye skillz prodigiously. As they mercilessly triangle-choked standup comedians in 1996, however, the billz remained unpaid.

Another major detriment to the enjoyment of this disc is songwriting. Too many awkward or just plain inexplicable tempo changes, pretto interludes, and don’t even get me started on the mega-genius “Intro” and “Outro”. Well done, sirs. That last 28 second instrumental was really was worth tacking on to the end of the album. This is a band with a big vision. The fundamentals to realize that vision were sadly not in place. A chimp with a video camera, Jack Nicholson’s booze-preserved corpse, and a hedge maze would not be able to recreate “The shining” in 40 minutes. Give that primate 45 minutes and all bets are off, though.

So vocals, drumming, bass, and surprisingly lyrics are all in good order. But these elements do little good without the riffery and coherent songs. Good try. No dice. As the unfunny aeons passed you would grow more badass; back in ’96 you were stuck somewhere between mirthless and boring, Trauma (definitely not the dude).

- Information
- Released: 1996
- Label: Vox Mortis
- Website: www.trauma.art.pl
- Band
- Piotr Zienkiewiczr: vocals, bass
- Jarosław ‘Mister’ Misterkiewicz: guitars
- Arkadiusz Furdal: guitars
- Arkadiusz ‘Mały’ Sinica: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Intro
- 02. Incertitude
- 03. Relief
- 04. (Girl you know) This Can´t Be True
- 05. Perfection
- 06. Comedy Is Over
- 07. Naked Truth
- 08. Outro