Trap ThemTrap Them who are based out of Seattle, WA/Salem, NH feature Ryan McKenney, the former front man of Backstabbers Inc. and Brian Izzi of December Wolves. An interesting little nugget, the band got their name from a 1977 film called Trap Them and Kill Them. They have been around since 2001 but it wasn't until 2006-07 when the band got some recorded material out to the public. The first being "77+K7" (Was a self titled 7" and came out before they changed their name to Trap Them) and "Sleepwell Deconstructor", which followed right on its heels in the same year.
Their sound isn't exactly the easiest to classify but they are a metal/hardcore band that draws influences from many places; d-beat, crust, grind, punk, metal. Some of the band's that these guys list as influences are Entombed, Nasum, Black Flag, Dismember, Tragedy, etc,. The most prevalent band in their sound is Tragedy I would say. And many people have compared them to Cursed, which I can agree with.
One of my favorite things about how these guys approach song writing is the clash of different musical styles that seem to melt into one another. I love how the drumming shifts from a d-beat tempo to grind style drumming complete with blast beats which show up throughout the demo. After hearing the performance of session drummer Scott Desfusco, I would urge them to get the guy in the band.
The EP contains 5 songs, which are titled with day thirteen through day seventeen. What the significance of this is I couldn't tell you. The lyrics are abstract and use a lot of word play but they deal with bleak personal matters with a political underbelly. Perhaps McKenney's most interesting play on words is the first part from "Pulse Mavens" (although the title of their 7" "Cunt Heir To The Throne" is pretty amazing too):
"Saw him get his death march on....saw him light the aisles with hidden handjobs sheltered from the masters' baiting crowns. In overzealous crowds. In Undernourished sounds. I know what you want, grey wanderlist."
The recording which was done on a eight-track analog tape with the "band's distortion advisor" Kurt Ballou. If you have read most of my reviews, you will know that I love the body of work that he has amassed and he hasn't failed to impress me this time around. Kurt and these guys are like a match made in heaven; the distortion advisor nailed the gritty tone of the guitar, the prodding bass tone that seems to stab its way through the mix, the pronounced drum tones and the eerie, reverb laden vocals all feed off one another. The tone of the album, overall, is gritty without going too far and far from being polished, which would be a horrible thing for these guys.
Ryan Patterson of Coliseum did the artwork/layout of this one. The high quality gloss layout features skulls with some sunken in eye sockets. The booklet is three panels and folds out vertically. The front cover is a dastardly looking skull, it's only partially displayed because when you fold the pages out, the top of the skull is on the second page. The lyrics are displayed vertically in the booklet with some crazy winged statues on the bottom and top. In the words of Larry David, it's pretty...pretty...pretty good.
Rating: 4/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: Day Fourteen: Pulse Mavens and Day Fifteen: Citizenihilist
Synopsis: Definitely in my top five of EP's that have been released so far this year, and with the year nearing an end, I doubt anything will knock it out. From start to finish there is no filler musically or lyrically. I don't know what else to say...
I'll say this till I'm blue in the face, if you like what you hear, don't sit there with your dick in your hand, make the fucking purchase.