Trauma Ray Announce New EP, Unveil Single “Hannibal”: Stream

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Trauma Ray have announced the Carnival EP, out February 20th via Dais Records.

The Texas shoegazers also dropped one of the EP’s five songs, “Hannibal,” a five-minute excursion that couples doomy metallic riffage with the melodic coos of singer Uriel Avila, who described the track as “Stone Temple-y, Alice in Chains-y.”

“It’s a song about the feeling of doing your best as an individual yet still falling short in the eyes of those you hope to make proud,” added Avila in a press release. “A lot of it stems from internal battles I faced growing up with my father, role models, and religion. Some of it comes from more recent experiences of being put under the microscope by my peers. It’s a gut wrenching sensation that I was able to tie lyrically to the visceral mood of the instrumentation that kicks off the track and begins the journey through Carnival’s overall theme.”

Avila went on to say that the EP — recorded last summer in Texas during a break in touring — was “the most collaborative we’ve been, where everyone was both hands-on and hands-off.” He added, “You can really hear each person’s influences in almost every song in a very unique, non-biting way.”

That included more contributions from guitarist Coleman Pruitt and bassist Darren Baun, supplementing the songwriting team of Avila and guitarist Jonathan Perez. Corey Coffman (They Are Gutting A Body of Water, Milly) handled mixing and mastering. Meanwhile, the EP’s theme stems from a striking photo of a deserted amusement park near Brighton, England, taken on tour by drummer Nicholas Bobotas — the cover art for the release.

“It really looks like we specifically chose this theme and like had this whole preconceived idea, but it truly appeared out of thin air,” Perez said.

You can pre-order the Carnival EP via Dais Records. Stream “Hannibal” and see the artwork and tracklist below.