Trap Them
Sleepwell Deconstructor (2007)
Brian Shultz
Trap Them's debut is more blistering than living in the sun's chromosphere, blending bits of punk, crust, grind, and metal, screaming and twisting its way through 21 minutes on Sleepwell Deconstructor.
Sleepwell Deconstructor is nothing less than jarring. All the instruments and a voice not unlike a deeper-throated Jacob Bannon's constantly coalesce to provide a dynamic pacing and overwhelming sound. While the band is sure enough to slip in a few let-ups and not constantly drill away at the drum kit, be assured that for its entire duration you will not only be compelled, but thrown around.
While half its songs do round off to a minute apiece, others stretch beyond those means and express Trap Them's creative visions well. The lyrically warfare-preparing "Day Five: Garlic Breakfast" tears off a few more intricate riffs, while "Day Six: Fucked as Punk" manages to build to a frothing, pounding climax in just over two minutes. "Day Eight: Destructioneer Extraordinare" is the biggest surprise, an apprehensive, five-minute-long track that shows the band must be spinning some 'post-metal' bands in between their bouts of Tragedy and Discharge; however, it reminds me of the more deliberate songs off November Coming Fire's excellent Dungeness. Of course, it follows with two tracks guns-a-blazing, then the sinister, on-the-verge-of-exploding "Day Eleven: Threatnurse" and one final blowout in "Day Twelve: All Hands on the Medic."
Aesthetically pleasing and only relatively genre-appropriate artwork plus excellent production courtesy of the ever-consistent Kurt Ballou make Sleepwell Deconstructor the full package. It'll also make a swell holdover between Tragedy's Nerve Damage and Disnihil's forthcoming full-length.
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