Trap Them

Crown Feral

Written by: MIN on 16/11/2016 13:10:45

Former Deathwish Inc.-crust punks Trap Them are back with another jaw-breaking, skull-rattling and fist-thrusting hellblazer of a record that’ll have fans of the band and the genre in general moshing through their living rooms. Unfortunately, the Boston, MA -based quartet’s third album on Prosthetic Records, “Crown Feral”, fails to ensue on the promise made by the previous LP, “Blissfucker”, on which the band started fleshing out their song-structures and had a slower, more grating sound on many of the tracks. What we have here instead is an album that offers the listener little air to breathe during a pummelling that only lasts 31 minutes over the course of ten bashers.

Right from the get-go, Trap Them prove why they’re such a prominent name within the genre: the first few seconds of chugging guitars and bombastic drumming on second track “Hellionaires” quickly transform into classic d-beat hardcore with some excellent guitar leads that sees vocalist Ryan McKenney spit out words about death, poverty and young thugs. The lyrics are as if taken straight out of a Victorian-era English horror story, and the delivery is so intense that when McKenney forces your ears upon the line ”I’m making my way towards death’s wooden door // And I’ll bring a fucking battering ram”, he leaves you no choice than to believe his words.

Many tracks throughout the record are luckily just as enjoyable. “Prodigala” features more intense, haunting, Converge-style guitar playing, the tempi presented throughout are thrilling, and the rhythm section nicely complements each other, with especially the bass being prominent. “Revival Spines” offers what’s probably the album’s best drive with its raging guitar and bouldering drums co-creating some incredible sonic melodies. “Twitching in the Auras” provides a slower and thicker approach, where the dropping guitars and thumping bass generate a sinister atmosphere, giving the album a more varied expression in general.

But unfortunately, the album also has its fair share of forgettable tracks. Several songs, such as “Speak Nigh” or “Luster Pendulums”, are decent bangers, but they fail to make any lasting impression. The album throttles at such a high speed that some of the songs blend in with the rest too much, making them come across as rather anonymous — and thus the album ultimately ends up as kind of a mixed bag instead of being consistently excellent. Luckily, the great songs heavily outweigh the weaker ones, but this issue does keep the album from reaching its full potential. What I really liked about “Blissfucker” was that the band was taking more chances. Although I personally found that album to be a bit lengthy, at least it was different. Here, it feels like Trap Them has regressed and tried to make “Darker Handcraft” part two; they’ve taken one step forward and two steps back. And the problem with trying to make a second “Darker Handcraft” is that the original both flows much better, features the better songs and, crucially, already exists!

7

Download: Hellionaires; Prodigala; Malengines Here, Where They Should Be; Revival Spines
For the fans of: Converge, Entombed, Black Breath, Nails, Young and in the Way, All Pigs Must Die
Listen: Facebook

Release date 23.09.2016
Prosthetic Records

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