Toronto based TRAITRS has been putting their own spin on post punk and coldwave for the better part of a decade, and while some of the buzz has centered around their singer’s closeness in sound to The Cure’s Robert Smith each of the band’s releases has broadened their scope and approach. Where the earlier years saw a fairly regular pace of releasing music, it has been nearly five since 2021’s Horses in the Abbatoir. But Possessor has broken this silence, and in the time that has passed the group’s material has only gotten gloomier and more introspective. It’s a bit more of a slow burn in comparison to the previous two full lengths, but those that give it the time to sink in will discover some of the genuinely haunting melodies and lyrics.
TRAITRS has had their fair share of slower, moodier tracks over their career, but it does feel like there’s a greater emphasis on them throughout Possessor. That isn’t the first impression you get from the album given the driving rhythms and bass lines of opener “Burn in Heaven” along with the booming choruses on “I Was Ill, You Were Wrong”, but as you dive deeper the material branches out more. “Seven Fictions” and “Cold Skin” are great early examples, as the former keeps some of the rhythms but uses its electronic layers for a much denser and dark atmosphere while the former lets the guitar and keyboards sprawl outwards for a more introspective tone. When the band heads into the sprawl they remind me of The Cure’s more recent material but without the extended intros, and there are also hints of The Chameleons’ softer passages. TRAITRS does a good job for much of the album’s run delicately balancing the slow and moody numbers with the types of colder melodies and danceable beats you’d expect from their brand of post punk and gothic rock, and while not every track sticks out in the same way there is a consistent push and pull that kept me coming back. Where Possessor really sold me was the ending slow burn of “Mourn” through “Crawl”. “Mourn” uses haunting keyboards and reverberating drum rhythms to draw you right in, “Japanese Picture Pony” is more up-tempo but retains the gloom, while “Crawl” slows things down again in favor of expansive keyboard and guitar melodies. These three in particular may be a bit of a slow burn as they’re not as outwardly hook driven as some of the earlier cuts, but they really hit hard after a few listens.
Considering gothic rock’s and coldwave’s inherent gloom and despair, it feels like Posessor has really ramped things up as this is a truly sad and bleak album from a lyrical perspective. You can hear it in the singing too, which has a different level of emotion compared to the past two releases, and while sometimes this makes for a hard listen depending on the mood you’re in it did give TRAITRS’ latest some real staying power. I’m not one to usually talk about lyrics in my reviews since they’re such a subjective piece for each listener, but “Dream Drowning”, “Japanese Picture Pony”, and “Crawl” have some of the most haunting lyrics I’ve heard in some time. On the vocal front, there are still a lot of sections that give off Robert Smith vibes but it never feels like a true one for one as the performance dips into some other pitches.
TRAITRS has made some tweaks to their established sound, making album number three a bit more of an inward looking and slow burning affair. They haven’t fully lost some of the driving rhythms and fuller elements of their sound, but this effort does ask for a bit more time to fully reveal everything its doing. Not every track fully stands out for me, but the peaks have some of the most memorable and heart wrenching melodies and lyrics and that’s continued to draw me back for another dip into the group’s melancholy.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
