Starting over a decade ago at this point, Traitors has cultivated their downtuned, sludgy deathcore over the course of four full-length efforts leading up to Phobias. While it’s been six years since their last full-length, Repent, they’ve stayed busy with number singles since then. The long and short of Phobias is that if you’ve been a fan of the band’s decidedly brutal tactics and style, you will enjoy it quite a bit. But for those outside of that segment, it’s not going to do much to gravitate towards you.
There’s not really a better or more descriptive adjective to describe Phobias other than heavy. It’s rather heavy and uncompromisingly so. The slow, down-tempo riffs crash and collide into the listener like a ton of bricks around every corner. The downtuned rumbles are the type that will inevitably hit you in the chest. “No Witness” is savage in it’s unadulterated chunky breakdowns and guttural vocal accompaniment. “Deprive (Not Enough)” kicks you in the teeth from the start with it’s downtuned grooves, inducing a rhythmic and hypnotic feeling. Closer “10DXM” also capitalizes on thick grooves and monster chug sessions, a slowburn breakdown, and some eerie atmosphere.
Of course, the inevitable problem that some will face with this album is something that still tends to plague the deathcore scene. The format becomes predictable over the course of the album. For all of it’s punishingly heavy moments, there’s not enough nuance to make it really stick around for the long term in the typical listener’s mind. There’s an intro and interlude to help break things up in terms of the flow, but the group could benefit from more moody injections like on the aforementioned “10DXM” or opener “SBC.” The middle tends to suffer more from having a structure that, while notably brutal and heavy, tends to have some repetition.
Your mileage on Phobias will vary. Deathcore fans will rightly eat it up with the emphasis on massive, downtuned grooves and visceral breakdown energy. But it’s also not going to draw in any outside the fanbase due to it’s dedication to the purity of their craft. It’s not a bad album by a long shot, but you do know what you are going to be getting into after a few tracks.