Trap Them

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Trap Them
Trap Them Knitting Factory - Old Office CMJ 2008.jpg
Ryan McKenney performing at the Knitting Factory, Brooklyn
Background information
Also known asTrap Them + Kill Them, 77+K7
Origin Salem, New Hampshire, United States
Genres
Years active20012017
Labels Prosthetic, Southern Lord, Trash Art!, Deathwish
Past membersRyan McKenney
Brian Izzi
Brad Fickeisen
Galen Baudhuin
Stephen LaCour
Mike Justian
Mike Sharp
Scott DeFusco
Nat Coghlan
Chris Maggio
Website http://www.trapthem.net

Trap Them was an American hardcore punk band formed in Salem, New Hampshire in 2001. They released five studio albums and five EPs, including a split EP with Extreme Noise Terror.

Contents

History

Trap Them began in 2001 as a side-project for Ryan McKenney, who at the time was the vocalist of Backstabbers Incorporated and Brian Izzi, a brief second guitarist for Backstabbers Incorporated and consistent member of December Wolves. The pair first met as employees of Newbury Comics in Salem, New Hampshire. [1] They took the band's name from the 1977 film by Joe D'Amato called Trap Them And Kill Them, known also as Emanuelle E Gli Ultimi Cannibali and Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals. [2] In this early time they created a self released MCD under the moniker of Trap Them and Kill Them. Both departed from Backstabbers Incorporated in 2008 and soon became roommates, leading to Trap Them becoming their full-time project. [1] [2]

On April 3, 2007, they released their debut album Sleepwell Deconstructor . [3] They toured Europe in early 2008 with the Ocean and Rotten Sound. [4]

Trap Them worked with crust punk band Extreme Noise Terror for a split EP [5] and toured the U.S. with Napalm Death. Their second album Seizures in Barren Praise , was released in November 2008. In May 2009, the band played on the year's bill for the annual Maryland Deathfest music festival in Baltimore, Maryland. The band went on US tours with Victims and Black Breath in May and June 2009, and Skeletonwitch and Saviours in mid-July.

In 2010 the band released the EP Filth Rations, initially only as a strictly limited cassette release restricted to just fifty copies available at their appearance at the Scion Rock Festival. The EP was later released on Southern Lord Records on 12" vinyl featuring an etching on the B-side by artist Justin Bartlett, who also drew the main cover. [6]

In late 2010, it was announced that in March 2011 the band would release their third full-length Darker Handcraft through Prosthetic Records - their first for the label since signing for them in mid-2009. [7] In April 2011, the band embarked on a European tour to promote the album as main support for Rotten Sound. [3]

On April 7, 2014, the band announced that they had completed work on their following album, titled Blissfucker , which was released on June 10, 2014. [8] It was the first album to feature their new bassist, Galen Baudhuin (Infera Bruo), and drummer Brad Fickeisen (No Salvation, ex-The Red Chord). [9]

Crown Feral , the band's fifth and final studio album, was released on September 23, 2016, via Prosthetic Records. The album was again recorded with producer Kurt Ballou at the God City recording studio and featured artwork from artist Mattias Frisk. [10]

The band performed their final three shows in November in New York City, Montreal and Boston before disbanding. [11]

Musical style and influences

Trap Them's music has been categorised as grindcore, [12] crust punk, hardcore punk [13] and metalcore. [14] The band make heavy use of the Boss HM-2 guitar pedal, which creates a distinctive guitar tone that was first popularised by Swedish death metal bands. [14] Metal Injection writer Christopher described their sound as Luedtke "Bringing a hardcore/punk, d-beat, and grind attitude with death metal riffs ala Grave". [15]

The band's influences include hardcore and crust punk bands, such as Black Flag, Born Against, and Tragedy and metal bands like Dismember and Entombed. [16]

Members

Final
Past

Timeline

Trap Them

Discography

Studio albums

EPs and splits

Compilation contributions

Related Research Articles

Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. Grindcore is considered a more noise-filled style of hardcore punk while using hardcore's trademark characteristics such as heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, grinding overdriven bass, high-speed tempo, blast beats, and vocals which consist of growls, shouts and high-pitched shrieks. Early groups like Napalm Death are credited with laying the groundwork for the style. It is most prevalent today in North America and Europe, with popular contributors such as Brutal Truth and Nasum. Lyrical themes range from a primary focus on social and political concerns, to gory subject matter and black humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardcore punk</span> Aggressive and fast subgenre of punk rock

Hardcore punk is a punk rock subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C., and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Napalm Death</span> English grindcore band

Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris as replacements for guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crust punk</span> Music genre

Crust punk is a subgenre of punk rock influenced by the English punk scene as well as extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills. The term "crust" was coined by Hellbastard on their 1986 Ripper Crust demo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discharge (band)</span> English punk band

Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by some of the biggest names in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.

Extreme Noise Terror are a British extreme metal band formed in Ipswich, England in 1985 and one of the earliest and most influential crust bands. Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore, and for recording a number of sessions for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, the band started as crust punks and helped characterise the early, archetypal grindcore sound with highly political lyrics, fast guitars and tempos, and often very short songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deathwish Inc.</span> American independent record label

Deathwish Inc. is an American independent record label conceived by Jacob Bannon of Converge and Tre McCarthy in 2000. Their first release was Deeper the Wound, a split album between Converge and Japanese band Hellchild on April 23, 2001. Deathwish established itself quickly, working with a diverse group of bands and eventually becoming one of the most respected and innovative labels in contemporary hardcore punk and aggressive music in general.

Sore Throat were a British crust punk band formed in Huddersfield in 1987. They are known for being one of the earliest exponents of the grindcore subgenre known as "noisecore", as well as for launching the careers of several prominent members of the British heavy metal community.

Gorerotted were an English deathgrind band formed in 1997 that disbanded in January 2008 and reformed with new members as The Rotted. Gorerotted's lyrics and song titles were largely inspired by horror films and serial killers. The band's song titles often incorporated humorous rhymes or puns such as "Cut, Gut, Beaten, Eaten", "Put Your Bits in a Concrete Mix", and "Only Tools and Corpses", a pun on the popular British sitcom Only Fools and Horses, the latter beginning with a similar introductory drumbeat to the sitcom's theme music.

<i>Sleepwell Deconstructor</i> 2007 studio album by Trap Them

Sleepwell Deconstructor is the first album by Trap Them, released on April 3, 2007 on Trash Art!. Like the last recorded output from core members Ryan McKenney and Brian Izzi, Backstabbers Inc's Kamikaze Missions (2003), Sleepwell Deconstructor is produced by Kurt Ballou. Illustration and design by Justin Bartlett.

<i>Séance Prime</i> 2007 EP by Trap Them

Séance Prime is Trap Them's Deathwish Inc. debut, released on October 30, 2007, making it their third release of the year. Like Sleepwell Deconstructor, Séance Prime was produced by Kurt Ballou at Godcity Studios. Described as "a tornado of D-Beat hooks, frantic bursts of speed, and earth shaking dirges" this album has been critically called their heaviest release to date.

Heresy were a hardcore punk band from Nottingham, England, formed in 1985 and active until late 1989. They released three albums and recorded three sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show.

<i>Seizures in Barren Praise</i> 2008 studio album by Trap Them

Seizures in Barren Praise is the second full-length album by extreme metal band, Trap Them. It was released on November 11, 2008. It continues the days in a now non-linear fashion in the fictional area of Barren Praise.

Backstabbers Incorporated were an American hardcore/metal band based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

<i>Darker Handcraft</i> 2011 studio album by Trap Them

Darker Handcraft is the third studio album by the American grindcore band Trap Them. The album was first released in a vinyl LP format on March 1, 2011 and on CD and digital formats two weeks later on March 15, 2011 through Prosthetic Records. It's also the group's first release through Prosthetic after announcing their departure from Deathwish Inc. in 2009. Darker Handcraft was produced by Kurt Ballou of Converge.

Victims were a Swedish hardcore punk band, originally hailing from Nyköping, at the end of their career they were based in Stockholm. The final line-up consisted of lead vocalist and bass player Johan Eriksson, drummer Andy Henriksson, guitar player, vocalist Jon Lindqvist and guitar player Gareth Smith.

<i>Blissfucker</i> 2014 studio album by Trap Them

Blissfucker is the fourth studio album by the American grindcore/crust punk band Trap Them. It was released on June 10, 2014. It is the first album to feature their new bassist, Galen Baudhuin, and drummer Brad Fickeisen. Like their 2011 release, Darker Handcraft, it was released on Prosthetic Records. At 5:30 of the track "Let Fall Each and Every Sedition Symptom," is a hidden track, a re-recording of "Insomniawesome," from their first album, Sleepwell Deconstructor.

<i>Crown Feral</i> 2016 studio album by Trap Them

Crown Feral is the fifth and final studio album by the American grindcore band Trap Them. It was released in 2016 through Prosthetic Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Septic Tank (band)</span> British punk rock band

Septic Tank are a British punk rock band formed out of Coventry doom metal band Cathedral. The band was originally formed in 1994, while Cathedral were on tour, and later reformed in 2013 after Cathedral's breakup. Once the band reunited, producer and former member of the UK band Trouble, Jaime "Gomez" Arellano, replaced drummer Barry Stern, due to his death in 2005. The band have currently released one self-titled EP and one full-length album, entitled "Rotting Civilisation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom</span> Genre of music in the UK

Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom began in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the second wave of punk rock in the country. The scene produced many successful and influential hardcore punk bands throughout the 1980s such as Discharge, GBH and the Exploited and led to the pioneering of genres such as grindcore, street punk, crust punk and D-beat.

References

  1. 1 2 Kamiński, Karol. "TRAP THEM announce a new pressing of "Darker Handcraft"" . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 Synyard, Dave. "Trap Them's Ryan McKenney". Exclaim! . Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 MCCORMICK, JANSSEN. "After a decade on the grind, Trap Them find their stride" . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  4. "THE OCEAN FOR TWO UK DATES". RockSound . Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  5. "Extreme Noise Terror / Trap Them Split [7 inch] (2008)". 23 May 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  6. Gordon, Scott (11 February 2011). "Record Review: Trap Them's Darker Handcraft" . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  7. Debenedictis, Matt (March 1, 2011). "Trap Them Go 'Huge and Intense' for 'Damage Prose' -- Song Premiere". Noisecreep . AOL Music . Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  8. Ulrey, Jeremy (20 May 2014). "Album Review: TRAP THEM Blissfucker" . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  9. Cook, Toby. "Columnus Metallicus: The Best Metal Albums Of 2014 With Toby Cook". The Quietus . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  10. Redrup, Zach. "ALBUM: Trap Them – Crown Feral" . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  11. "Trap Them Announce Final Shows In November". Metal Underground. August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  12. Paul Schwartz, "Rotten Sound + The Ocean + Victims + Trap Them", Terrorizer no. 171, June 2008, p. 83
  13. Slessor, Dan (11 August 2020). "The 22 Most Essential Grindcore Albums". Kerrang! . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  14. 1 2 Schneider, David. "The Buzzsaw Riffs of the Stockholm Scene". Premier Guitar . Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  15. Luedtke, Christopher (4 October 2016). "Album Review: TRAP THEM Crown Feral" . Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  16. "Trap Them Is Angry". Times Leader . 7 April 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2022.