NEWSDetail
Kris Gustofson and Trauma new record release
Bay Area’s prodigal sons, TRAUMA to Release: As the World Dies May 11th 2018 worldwide through The Orchard/Sony.
Bay area thrash legends TRAUMA return with a crushing new line-up and a brutal
new album, AS THE WORLD DIES, produced by Trauma guitarist Joe Fraulob and
mixed by Juan Urteaga (Machine Head, Testament, Exodus, Ted Nugent). The first single The Rage was #3 most added track at Metal Radio this week.
TRAUMA is highly revered by those in the know as an important evolutionary entity in the intersection of traditional heavy metal, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and the more melodically minded classic rock influenced bands on the Sunset Strip. This is the band responsible for the much sought after classic ‘80s album, Scratch and Scream, featuring killer cuts like “The Day All Hell Broke
Loose” and “Lay Low ". Three decades passed before the reconfigured band
reemerged in support of a re-mastered edition of their Shrapnel debut and
delivered its 2015 follow-up, "Rapture and Wrath". With reverence for the past but eyes sharply focused on the future, the 2018 TRAUMA prepares to release their landmark third album AS THE WORLD DIES, staying true to the signature sound that came before but with a very modern edge. The potential for heavy metal greatness inherent in the revitalized lineup of veterans is powerful. Determined to make a mark in the metal world of today, in 2017 founder/vocalist Donny Hillier and longtime Trauma drummer Kris Gustofson put together a monstrous lineup of amazing players to create and record their highly anticipated third album. Guitarist Joe Fraulob is a former member of multiplatinum hard rockers Danzig. Steve Robello played guitar in Dublin Death Patrol, the Bay Area supergroup formed by the singers of Exodus and Testament. Bassist Greg Christian, was a founding member and integral part of Testament. The power and chemistry of this devastating new line-up is evident on AS THE WORLD DIES
TRAUMA was born in California’s Bay Area in 1980, a crucial year for metal music. It was within that fertile musical climate that TRAUMA developed a sound evoking the electric energy in the air around them. Donny Hillier consumed a steady diet of Zeppelin and Sabbath and shared love of Priest and Maiden with guitarist Mike Overton. And of course there was Trauma’s legendary early bassist, Cliff Burton.
In 2013’s Birth School Metallica Death: The Inside Story of Metallica, legendary
Bay Area thrash singer Steve “Zetro” Souza of Exodus recalled seeing Trauma
as a music-hungry teenager. As Zetro remembered it, several voices in the
Northern California scene heralded Trauma as “the next big thing” to emerge
from the Bay. The band built a strong reputation in places like The Stone, late
music impresario Bill Graham’s Wolfgang’s venue, and Hollywood landmarks The Troubadour and Whiskey-A-Go-Go, a launching pad for The Doors, Van Halen, and Guns N’ Roses.
Much like Metallica, Trauma’s first recorded appearance was as part of the compilation series curated by Metal Blade Records. Metal Massacre II (1982) featured “Such a Shame.” The band shot a video for the song “The Warlock” in Santa Ana, California, not long before Burton left the group to join Metallica.
New members entered the fold, including powerhouse double kick drummer Gustofson. The highly-skilled-musicianship-centric Shrapnel Records, the label formed by record producer and Guitar Player columnist Mike Varney, issued Trauma’s debut. Scratch and Scream arrived to enthusiastically positive reviews from the worldwide metal press, including tastemaker publications Kerrang!, Circus, and Metal Forces.
As fate would have it, TRAUMA did not survive the era, but much like the Misfits
and other important bands who accomplished so much in such a short timewhile
flying under the radar, the story of the band grew for generations of fans;
enough that demand continued for their seminal debut, the follow-up album, and
the group’s first ever appearances overseas, most notably at Germany’s Headbangers Open Air.
The Big 4 of Thrash Metal continue to deliver the goods. Iron Maiden concerts are cross - cultural events for legions of fans around the world. Judas Priest churns out incredible albums. New generations of fans form vintage sounding thrash bands everyday. And the Bay Area’s prodigal sons, TRAUMA, are ready as ever to attack.
Trauma is:
Kris Gustofson - Drums
Steve Robello - Guitars/Vocals
Donny Hillier - Vocals
Greg Christian - Bass
Joe Fraulob - Guitars
Social Sites:
Official: https://www.traumametal.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TraumaThrash
