Trauma "Scratch and Scream" - Bleeding Priest's Bay Area Metal Spotlight 13
- Bleeding Priest
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
Hello, and welcome to another edition of Bleeding Priest’s Bay Area Metal Spotlight.
This time, I'm covering a band I honestly didn’t know much about until this morning. I had heard a song or two over the years, but nothing that stuck with me—until now.
This record was gifted to me semi-recently, and I finally put it on today since I was planning to shoot some videos. I thought, “It’s a Bay Area band, I’lll check it out, let’s see if it’s worthy.”
Holy fucking hell—it’s beyond worthy. It’s awesome.
I listened to it twice today. It’s so fucking good. The band is Trauma, and the album is Scratch and Scream, their debut full-length from 1984, released on Shrapnel Records.
Like most people, all I ever really knew about Trauma was that it was the band Cliff Burton played in before joining Metallica. But Cliff’s not on this record—he only played on their first demo. Trauma also appears on Metal Blade Records’ Metal Massacre II compilation, where Cliff plays on that track, but that song is not on this record.
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much when I put it on—no one talks about Trauma. The band’s name is usually just a footnote: "Cliff Burton was in that band." So I assumed the music wouldn't hold up, and I should punch myself in the face for thinking that.
I was dead wrong. This album rips.
Think Vicious Rumors-style heavy metal—kind of speed metal, not quite thrash, but fast with killer double bass. The drummer is absolutely ripping, Chris Gustafson. I gotta give him props. The guitar players shred, and the vocals? Insane. High-register, Halford-style falsetto. The whole thing is just ripping American heavy metal.
It’s a bit controversial to say, but I’ll say it anyway: as individual musicians, Trauma might have outclassed Metallica. Not slight to Metallica, I’m not saying Scratch and Scream is better than Ride the Lightning, but it’s clear Cliff left a band of great musicians.
They would’ve fit right in on bills back then with Vicious Rumors, Hex, or early Lȧȧz Rockit. I’m seriously stoked this album is in my collection now—it’s going into heavy rotation.
And hey, Trauma’s still around—sort of. A couple years ago, Michael Spencer, who was in a great band back in the day from Sacramento called Sentinel Beast (who I’ll cover soon), joined them on bass. They were actually touring with Queensrÿche at one point. No idea how that tour came about—they’ve barely been active the past few decades. A few albums in the 2000s, a show every five years in the Bay Area, maybe.
Funny story: Michael Spencer hit me up about drumming for them on a few dates of that Queensrÿche tour when their drummer had to leave for a bit. I started learning their newer stuff—was getting ready to fly out and everything—but it didn’t end up happening.
Greg Christian from Testament also played bass for them briefly around 2020. (Mark from Death Angel always calls him “Greg Christensen” for some reason…)
So yeah—Trauma’s still out there. If you get a chance to see them live, do it. I’ve never seen them. I know I travel to see them if they are playing in California. They play festivals in Europe sometimes, and I predict Nefarious will end up on those same types of lineups.
If you’ve never heard Trauma, and especially if you’re a Metallica fan, check them out. They don’t sound like Metallica, but that connection is there.
Scratch and Scream is a killer album, and I’m stoked it’s now part of my spinning rituals.Trauma, see you next time.
–Bleeding Priest
