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Staff IconTrap Them - Seizures in Barren Praise (Cover Artwork)

Trap Them

Seizures in Barren Praise (2008)
Deathwish Inc.

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Contributed by: OverDefined
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Published on December 2nd 2008


I used to work a desk job. I would stare at a computer all day and one of my daily highlights was to get a cup of coffee in the mid-morning and, when I was feeling special, a donut as well. Even though I drank coffee every day, every once in a while the coffee would hit me especially hard and I would get a major caffeine and sugar buzz going and just power through my work in mood and manner reminiscent of Rambo laying out fields of bad guys. Since quitting that job for the sunnier world of grad school I hadn’t quite been hit with that feeling again until Trap Them’s new album, Seizures in Barren Praise, showed up in my mailbox. Contained within its eerie Jake Bannon artwork are 25 minutes of perfectly executed, organically metallic hardcore that basically makes me want to kill people with a comically giant automatic weapon and a bandanna wrapped around my head.

Trap Them has always been a band with great tone. Vocalist Ryan McKenney’s medium-low full screaming voice and guitarist Brian Izzi’s thick heavier-than-Sabbath guitar sound immediately put them ahead of most of the pack in heavy music. Throw in Kurt Ballou on top to produce and they were sure to come out with a product as heavy and impressive as last year’s Séance Prime 7”. However, while all of their previous releases have been good, they had yet to totally win me over. The problem was that a band like this that shifts between grooving heavy riffage and occasionally grinding blast beats needs an awesome drummer, and while their past drummers have been competent, I always wondered, “What if?” Enter former Unearth and Red Chord drummer Michael Justian and problem solved. While I’m still punk at heart, I’m a sucker for great instrumental playing, especially in heavy music, and the end-product here is well-rounded and undeniable.

The record starts with an early highlight in opener “Day Nineteen: Fucking Viva,” with a meandering evil guitar line and McKenney overtop destroying his vocal chords. The drums enter with a light half-time beat before the band hits full blast at 1:28 and stays that way for the rest of the song. An easy comparison for this band is Converge (check Brian’s reviews of their other releases for proof). They cover a lot of the same ground and are equally as heavy, however keeping a more straightforward approach.

While making a list of best riffs of the year is not something I would ever do, the ending of “Day Twenty Nine: Reincarnation of Lost Lones” would top it if I were to lose all respect for myself and make such a list. The record also closes on a high note with the seven-minute-long dirge-riffing fiesta “Day Thirty One: Mission Convincers.”

I know there’s a lot of people out there that are not huge fans of heavy music, but like to pick up a good hardcore or metal release every once in a while. For those people needing something heavy to fill that void, I would recommend checking out this release. It’s super heavy with great production, immediately accessible and still retains a strong punk vibe.



People who liked this also liked:
Converge - Jane DoeThe Hope Conspiracy - Death Knows Your NameBlacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than GodConverge - Axe to FallThe Clash - London CallingDoomriders - Darkness Come AliveLa Dispute - Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and AltairBad Brains - Bad BrainsConverge - No HeroesCoalesce - Ox

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    martinNZ09 (May 5, 2009)

    Amazing!

    Big_Guy (December 7, 2008)

    yeah, this rules

    also, I just realized that the old drummer from Unearth is in this band.

    Thus_Spoke_Sean (December 4, 2008)

    jesus, I would have ended my spam but I posted the same link twice.

    THIS is the interview.

    http://www.crustcake.com/2008/11/crustcake-interviews-trap-th em.html

    Thus_Spoke_Sean (December 4, 2008)

    "D-Beat meets grind with sooooo much attitude."

    That's a solid review in one sentence. I'm working on that level of conciseness.


    Thanks! If you want to check out my actual review for this it's here:

    http://www.crustcake.com/2008/12/crustcake-reviews-trap- them-seizures-in.html

    I also did an awesome interveiw with them recently:

    http://www.crustcake.com/2008/12/crustcake-reviews-t rap-them-seizures-in.html

    okay, sorry, end spam.

    usversusthem (December 4, 2008)

    Mission Convincers is just ridiculous. This album is everything you need to drive a jackhammer into your brain just right. Wonderful, wonderful. (Minus one star because music this angry is too angry to want to be a 10/10.)

    conduit (December 3, 2008)

    Band continues to be absolutely awesome and impress with every record they put out. I think I like Sleepwell Deconstructor more then this album but it's still awesome and that last track is rediculous.

    IamMclovin (December 3, 2008)

    So good.

    cyborgfrance (December 3, 2008)

    Sleepwell was okay, but it had it's moments, esp. "Jihadists". I'll make sure to check this out.

    Oh, and I demand a top ten riff list for this year.

    overdefined (December 3, 2008)

    "D-Beat meets grind with sooooo much attitude."

    That's a solid review in one sentence. I'm working on that level of conciseness.

    Archangel (December 2, 2008)

    Hell yeah. Seeing this band with Narrows and These Arms Are Snakes next week.

    sugarfull (December 2, 2008)

    Saw them live a couple of months ago, and it was pretty impressive. They definately have it all together as a band, and I would say that they're probably the best band on Deathwish right now.

    elephantdwarf (December 2, 2008)

    definitely 9/10 record. the last track alone makes this record worth it. the rest is just as good, though. so yeah, i felt this was far and away better than their previous output, which i also enjoyed thoroughly.

    Thus_Spoke_Sean (December 2, 2008)

    Oh, and my score, this is making my Top Ten list. D-Beat meets grind with sooooo much attitude.

    Thus_Spoke_Sean (December 2, 2008)

    I wasn't into this as much as Sleepwell or Seance after the first listen. It just doesn't have that same bite.

    I agree, however, Seance has SO MUCH bite, it's almost too much to ask for a repeat. Also, the EP format worked very well for them there, it was the perfect amount and left you desparetly wanting more.

    Plus I think their song writing just keeps getting better.

    homemadebullshit (December 2, 2008)

    i was looking forward to this cd all year and it was well worth the wait, i enjoyed every minute of it.

    theonetruebill (December 2, 2008)

    I "saw" these guys once when I was sick opening for Disfear. My "saw" I mean that I was sitting upstairs on the couches at Subterranean trying not to die. I liked what I heard though.

    inagreendase (December 2, 2008)

    I wasn't into this as much as Sleepwell or Seance after the first listen. It just doesn't have that same bite.

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