It’s easy to play loud and fast with a few strokes and pounds of instruments but it’s not so easy to be intense, heart pounding, and extreme. The second TRAP THEM’s Darker Handcraft starts, the fury and intensity smash through the speakers. The record is indeed an explosion of raging energy.

The band arms itself with down tuned ENTOMBED/DISMEMBER-style buzzsaw guitars/bass for their style of crust/hardcore/grind. CONVERGE fans will be able to spot the CONVERGE-isms. It may be cliche to say but it’s true…Darker Handcraft is the sound of an out of control train flying off the tracks. TRAP THEM make sure to sonically crash and bash in a variety of ways to keep things dynamic.

The songs may not be long but they don’t feel short either. There is plenty of variety in the quality riffing and the band break up madness with some different tempos/feels. Songs like “Sordid Earnings” and “Drag the Wounds Eternal” are slow and pull back the throttle to focus more on the effect of simplicity and a dragging pace. Ending track, “Scars Align,” has a darker feel with its near black metal chords and slow groove.

Darker Handcraft is not about reinventing extreme music. TRAP THEM are out to rage and that’s exactly what they do. (Prosthetic Records)