The sophomore full-length effort from Trap Them (again released through Deathwish Inc.) sees the group continuing down the path cut on their previous outings, except that this time Kurt Ballou and the band have actually come as close as humanly possible to replicating the classic Sunlight Studio sound at Godcity. Seriously, if you had told me that they all flied to Stockholm, Sweden to track the album, I'd buy it 100%. The guitar tone sounds so fuckin' close to what Entombed had on "Clandestine" that I can barely believe it—the only real difference is that of course Ballou gets everything sounding perfectly crisp, warm, and clear. And in fact, it's really allowing band to come across more like a fast 'n' furious hardcore/punk version of early Entombed on this album (with some absolutely sick slow to midpaced passages tossed in), which brings me great pleasure and is absolutely not something that anyone in their right mind should complain about! Add vocalist Ryan McKenney's unique lyrical explorations:
"Barren Praise" is a fictional ghost town version of every non-fiction town. Lyrically, previous Trap Them releases are all stories from people who had lived in "Barren Praise" before deciding to up and leave. This is the story of those who stayed behind to tell the stories of watching everything unfold...
Then wrap 'em up to be literally intertwined with slick high-contrast graphics in a massive 32-page booklet, and you've got yourself a full-on winner that represents the band's finest work to date. 10 tracks, 25 minutes, done. Of course there's more to it than that, but the bottom line is that the shit rules, so...
Trap Them "Invertopia/Class Warmth"
You can also sample the entire album at Last.fm.
Get It
Deathwish Inc. (CD)
Deathwish Inc. (LP)
eMusic (mp3)
iTunes (mp3)
Comments
They’re not quite filling the void BSI left, but damn close..
12.15.2008 | By frans
I was just going to say the same thing. I just posted the “Evolution” 7” you should check it out.
12.15.2008 | By Shanetera
Definitely in my top 10 this year…this thing sounds so good and the songwriting is really interesting, not just some good riffs thrown together.
12.15.2008 | By Tim
yeah, it seems Kurt has spent the last few years trying to master getting those Skogsberg tones down… all the way back to that Ramallah ep.
12.15.2008 | By jim fuckin winters
You’re at least the 3rd or 4th person to say this album is awesome, but man… I just don’t “get it,” I guess. I tried; listened once, didn’t dig, put on my ipod, listened again just this weekend. Don’t see what’s so cool here.
Oh well.
-VN
12.15.2008 | By Vince Neilstein
Got-damn, that’s some man-metal right there. Not familiar with these guys at all, but it’s so much better than the latest batch of shrieking girly-jeans nancy-boy “hardcore.”
12.15.2008 | By blatant
This is good! Much more raging/interesting than the 7” before it. Similar to the full-length debut but at least based on this track they’ve got a little more depth and intricacy going on.
12.15.2008 | By Justin
Band killed it at Chain Reaction tonight. Much improved since their last show here.
Narrows’ set made me want to check them out more. Definitely into them live too. Their full-length sounds more like Botch (at least the song up on Deathwish Inc’s e-card)
12.15.2008 | By so. cali.
although, what liitle i’ve heard of this band hasn’t really impressed me. i ‘d rather just listen to Wolverine Blues or something. seems there are alot of these part to part hybrid bands on the horizon…classic AN (or any MLIW most likely) one minute then Integrity or Entombed the next. anyway…
12.16.2008 | By jim fuckin winters
Glad you picked up on the resemblance of the guitar tone to the sound perfected by Entombed on “Clandestine”. I’ve been banging on about that for yonks to anyone who cares to listen (and plenty who don’t) and have received nothing but blank stares (in fairness, I tend to get that alot, regardless of the topic of conversation).
That said, I prefer Sleepwell Deconstructor to this, in terms of both the songs themselves and the production (the guitars had a bit more grit on that album; here they sound a tad too polished for my taste). And I second what was said up-thread re: Trap Them < Backstabbers Inc.
12.16.2008 | By manisthebastard