Bringing together members of Fuzz Orchestra, Zeus, Lento and Zu, German band Traum aren’t light on musical talents. On their debut album, the collective explore a broad soundscape of space rock, desert rock and stoner to create a heavily atmospheric work. Perhaps most impressively, unlike some of their peers, they don’t feel it is always necessary for their musical explorations to stretch out into hugely lengthy jams. There are longer works shared, but the bulk of ‘Traum’ shares shorter, accessible pieces, and in doing so, really helps to create a user friendly record from a sometimes less than user friendly style.

‘Kali Yuga’ opens the album very safely, with the musicians playing very much to expectations. The track’s main riff works a repetitive stoner groove, falling somewhere between the noisier end of early Hawkwind and something from Josh Homme’s Desert Sessions. Keeping everything interesting, a bluesy toned lead guitar weaves a huge melody throughout, and although the soloing takes on more of a metallic form than your average Steve Hillage or Gong themed workout, there’s a feeling that Traum are aiming for a similar kind of trippiness in their own way. Eventually cranking up the fuzz guitar and a focusing a little more on tribal drum line, the second part of the track finds the band really rocking, but without losing their sense of atmosphere, and as the lead guitars grow accordingly, this number falls squarely between some well crafted space rock and accessible drone. Although the album offers more interesting works, this is the perfect way to attract an audience.

Working a very eastern sounding melody and more tribal drums, ‘Vimana’ is an immediate standout. The greatness comes from various different guitar tones employed at once. You’ll hear elements of desert rock, prog rock and deep psych all bristling against each other, creating an almost ambient take on classic Krautrock sounds. As the harmonics and soaring leads mesh, Traum take the listener deeply into a world that sounds like Ozric Tentacles on a world music trip, and no matter how long or repetitive the jam, their layers of sound envelop the listener in a way that feels hugely uplifting. By contrast, the nine minute ‘Katabasis’ is much less immediate, but via a world of ambient keyboard sounds, the band slowly unveils a landscape of sound that shares something different on each successive listen. You might find the influences rather obvious: the sonic textures appear to be built from bits of Pink Floyd’s ‘Echoes’, Brian Eno’s ‘Ambient 4: On Land’ LP and a couple of The Orb’s more obtuse experiments, but combined, the familiar still manages to feel other-worldly, and the way the guitar strings occasionally scratch against an analogue keyboard sound that could be derived from a ‘Spiral’ era Vangelis really makes the track.

Another of this album’s concessions to a long form workout, ‘Inner Space’ opens with pulsing synths and a heavy beat. This, at first, has a faint air of early 80s synth works that were indebted to Krautrock; there’s definitely a trace of The Human League’s ‘Being Boiled’ and other moody 80s fare here, but as the tune expands, the melody slowly shifts. At first, Traum launch into a repetitive rhythm reminiscent of the legendary Neu!, and then venture into a wavering slab of space rock that feels pretty much timeless. Once the groove swells and the layers build, the melody takes in some great prog rock inspired guitar work, and a strong, retro melody and teases with some deep psych worthy of 90s Hawkwind. With that topped off with a pleasingly crashy drum part and a couple of top notch solos, this is a superb musical journey that works very naturally. The six minutes could easily feel like a very digestible four, such is Traum’s gift for a genuine flow.

Another highlight, ‘Antarctic Dawn’ may only be a short offering, but the track’s gentle yet dark melodies have the potential to grab the listener from the very start. By presenting a little more of a slow burning quality, the music moves slowly, working a deep bassline as if Jah Wobble had inspired an Eno soundscape, which works perfectly as a warm up for ‘Infraterrestrial Dub’, a track that does exactly what it says on the tin. Here, Traum cast aside their space rock vibes and go deep into a slow reggae inspired groove. The bass led melodies are constantly peppered with echo and reverbed sound, and its only really an occasional twangy guitar and horns that ever rise above the deep groove. It gives the impression of one of Barry Adamson’s pieces from the Lost Highway soundtrack reworked by Prince Jammy. It’s markedly different to the core of Traum’s material, but at the same time, it fits the instrumental soundscapes of this album perfectly.

Winding everything down after some of the album’s more obvious grooves, ‘Erwachen’ shares six minutes of ambient sound. Weaving guitar harmonics over a layer of synths, this quickly becomes a tribute to Steve Hillage in a hugely blissed out mood, and even when a couple of slightly atonal, blues influenced leads break the hazy blankets of sound, the other worldly mood is never broken. The louder guitar actually works as a bridge between the purer ambient textures and a late night sax, which slowly sets a mournful mood in place. By the closing bars, you’ll have the feeling that it could’ve been filler on a latter day Hawkwind record. However, in keeping with most of Traum’s work, it’s actually much better than that, whilst the brief coda (‘Eterno Ritorno’) throws a massive curveball by showing how easily the band can dive into the world of free jazz. By closing this journey with two minutes of organ blasts, feedback drenched guitar and spooky noise, it creates an unnatural feel, but the lack of genuine closure – especially since the track stops dead, mid “melody” – will leave listeners wanting more.

With this debut, Traum have recreated the ultimate retro experience. Everything here – right down to their choice of album artwork – is so perfectly pitched. It’s only really the punchier production sound that gives it away as being a product of the twenty first century. With a world of tunes that evoke a variety of moods, and no shortage of melodies that slowly work their way under the skin, this really shouldn’t be missed by those who love a hefty slice of space rock, or are always up for a Krautrock inspired trip.

February/May 2024