Album Review: Traitors – Phobias (Self Released)

Traitors, the pioneering deathcore band, return with their brand-new album, ‘Phobias’ on February 21st, 2025. An album that delves into the darkest corners of the human mind, exploring themes of mental anguish, inner torment, and destructive cycles.

Hold on to your asses, the giants of the deathcore scene are back and spitting blood, fire, and fury with an album that takes the best of who Traitors are (sonically) and gives it a blacker, more twisted feel. It’s not about being heavy (which it is, of course), it’s about exposing the darkness that lives inside all of us. Buried deep within our psyches, often erupting in a maelstrom of turmoil when we least expect it. Don’t shy away from it, stare it down, and scream until you can’t anymore.

This the kind of feelings that Phobias evokes. All because vocalist Tyler delivers vocals with pure passion that could only ever come from someone who has experienced this kind of anguish themselves. Inherently intense, unbelievably aggressive, and downright feral, at times, it might sound ‘deathcore 101’, but few vocalists are as capable as Tyler is. Especially when it comes to showing off more complex layers and experimenting with hip-hop rhythms and beats.

Something that extends to the instrumentals too, giving the album some accessibility here and there. A word that might seem laughable because of the ‘deathcore’ tag, but Traitors have always been so much more than just a deathcore band, and Phobias is proof of that.

It’s this experimentation, a willingness to go to different places, a desire to push as hard as possible, that makes this album so special. The band have gone the concise route too, offering up ten tight listens and one intro. This means the issue that often plagues the more extreme side of metal, repetition, simply doesn’t exist. Traitors’ approach is diverse, even offering up exciting alternatives with something as straight-forward as a breakdown. The goal here wasn’t just to expel some demons, and help listener potentially face some of theirs, but to deliver the most precise Traitors sound they could.

We call them deathcore pioneers for a reason, right? Phobias is all the proof anyone needs that the title is not only deserved but continues to be as relevant as ever. Face your demons and slam them into the ground.

Traitors – Phobias Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. SBC
3. Deprive (Not Enough)
4. Release
5. Break
6. Interlude
7. Trauma Bond
8. No Witness
9. Imposter
10. Nuisance
11. 10DXM

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