Labels: Otomo Recs
Review by: MH
Two nicely matched Spanish bands on this new split and both come from Malaga. Altrauma are up first (the name has an umlaut on the “u” but this website can’t handle certain characters so Altrauma it is). They’re new to me and play a melodic, punked-up and energetic form of emo. The vocals on the blazing opener, “Gran Diversion”, are great – yelled without tipping over into screaming. They’re more restrained on the next two tracks but only slightly. This band reminds me of the punkier side of Ulises Lima mixed in with something else that I haven’t quite pinpointed yet. These songs are a great introduction to the band and leave me wanting more. I’m pretty familiar with Shonen Bat by now as I’ve said good things about them a few times on other reviews on this website in the past. They also serve up three new songs and they’re typical of their sound – the guitars flit between a more laidback, jazzy style and more energetic and noisy outbursts which twist and turn.
This split is like a parallel to that Ulises Lima and Shonen Bat record a couple of years ago for me when I hadn’t heard Shonen Bat before and Altrauma take that role this time. Cracking split.