Album Review: Trap Them - 'Darker Handcraft'

Trap Them’s newest offering, the follow up to last years ‘Filth Rations’ EP, is no different than those that have come before it, once again produced by Kurt Ballou, who’s improved on that ‘Buzzsaw guitar tone’ and refined that frenzied drumming from their newly permanent drummer Chris Maggio (ex- Coliseum), hence making this the most defined and sonically clean sounding Trap Them record to date.

The album opener ‘Damage Prose’ starts unlike their previous full length ‘Seizures In Barren Praise’ without the long drum intro, but rather four chords and double kick, which definitely lets you, the listener know what you’re in for the next thirty one minutes and three seconds, which if you know what’s up, will have you spinning your head in a circular motion.

Track two, ‘Slumcult & Gather’, has no standout features to it, but is 3:23 of solid dirty d-beat madness. ‘Every Walk A Quarantine’ has to be one of the strongest songs on the release, reminding the listener of ‘Garlic Breakfast’ off ‘Sleepwell Deconstructor’, Chris Maggio’s drumming is also top notch on this track. ‘Evictionaries’, the track it leads into is one of the grooviest tracks on the release, working at a midpace tempo with the one of the heaviest riffs of the cd which and has a feel much like ‘Wolverine Blues’ era Entombed (Entombed being a massive influence on the band and this genre as a whole), the overall simplicity of this track should establish it as a fan favourite for their live shows to come. ‘The Facts’ has to be one of Trap Them’s catchiest tracks to date and is funnily enough one of few where you can understand vocalist’s Ryan McKenney’s lyrics coherently. The next three tracks ‘Saintpeelers’, ‘Manic in the Grips’ and ‘Sovereign through the Pines’ aren’t breaking ground but definitely deserve their place on the CD, as they grind along pummeling ear drums with these three being under two minutes each. The album closer ‘Scars Align’ is a doom and sludge ridden tune that is also the longest clocking in 4:29, which uses the bands ridiculously heavy guitar tone to turn an extremely simple riff into one which will have your horns raised.

‘Darker Handcraft’ also marks new territory for Trap Them as shown by the tracks ‘Sordid Earnings’ and ‘Drag the Wounds Eternal’, which show the more mellow side of their writing ability and does the album a massive favour as it allows the listener to catch their breath before the second half of this grinding madness. This softer side has been approached before on most of their releases but not to the extent of the two on this releases ‘Drag the Wounds Eternal’ almost reminds the listener of ‘Ministry’ in their ‘Filth Pig’ era mixed with ‘Wretched World’ off the latest Converge CD making for a really interesting aural experience and makes for one of the strongest points of this cd, and I, as a fan of Trap Them would like to see this trend continue into future releases.

Darker Handcraft is what one expects from a Trap Them release, the Boss HM-2 distortion pedal, manic drumming and McKenney’s in your face vocals although this time round with cleaner production. This release will do nothing but ensure Trap Them’s standing as one of the forerunners in the extreme metal genre.

1. Damage Prose
2. Slumcult & Gather
3. Every Walk A Quarantine
4. Evictionaries
5. All by the Constant Vulse
6. Sordid Earnings
7. The Facts
8. Saintpeelers
9. Manic In the Grips
10. Sovereign Through The Pines
11. Drag The Wounds Eternal
12. Scars Align