Trapped Under Ice

Secrets Of The World

Written by: PP on 09/09/2009 21:23:27

Lately, I've begun to share my fellow scribe TL's negative sentiments towards DIY / tough guy / straight forward hardcore bands, because if there's one musical style that's packed to its limits with overwhelming genericness, then it's this one. If you thought power/heavy metal was stale, then meet the grandfather. There are literally thousands upon thousands of bands in the genre, but yet there are less than a handful that I'd consider even remotely good: Madball, Sick Of It All, Agnostic Front, Terror, Hatebreed, Paint It Black, and a few that I can't quit remember just now. Even a band like Have Heart, which is hyped by the scene to be the saviors of the genre, put out an album that was more or less instantly forgotten despite it's catchy title ("Songs To Scream At The Sun"). As you can probably guess, we're dealing with another one of those camouflage shorts wearing, wife-beating, ultra-serious 2-step bands: Trapped Under Ice, and their new album "Secrets Of The World", which for some strange reason has received good ratings elsewhere (what are these people, deaf?).

Starting with typically rough-edged guitars and chugga chugga oritented riffs, the first track "See God" actually demonstrates some promise through it's intense vocals that sound like they're ready to tear your lungs apart just to see what's inside. The track's under a minute and a half long though, so it's not long before we're into generic hardcore territory with alternating bass/guitar and purely chord-based tracks. What at first felt like a piercing scream, already on the second track feels like a monotonous bark that could use a few hundred doses of variety+ directly in its veins. The next six tracks then feel like a third rate Terror shredding away meaninglessly before the first glimpse of hope arrives in the form of "From Birth", which actually has a recognizable guitar lead (the very first one of the album, and this is track 9, not kidding!). The little two-tone guitar beep at the end of the chorus riff should make the song remind you of Poison The Well's classic "Nerdy" minus the clean vocals. It's incredible how big of a difference a tiny detail can make in a song, and had all the tracks on the record contained a similar reference point, then I'd understand all the four star ratings across the net.

But as it stands now, track 9 is way too little, way too late. Most people won't make it past track 4, which would be under 7 minutes to the record, and that really speaks volumes about the mediocrity of this record as a whole. Avoid at all costs, unless you're one of the two-stepping bastards at hardcore gigs ruining the experience for the rest of us. I wish I could resist saying this, but Trapped Under Ice and their peers really represent music for the unintelligent.

5

Download: From Birth, See God
For the fans of: Terror, Have Heart
Listen: Myspace

Release date 04.08.2009
Reaper Records

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