Trap Them was an American

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre 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 p ...

band formed in

Salem, New Hampshire Salem is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 30,089 at the 2020 census. Being located on Interstate 93 as the first town in New Hampshire, which lacks any state sales tax, Salem has grown into a commer ...

in 2001. They released five studio albums and five EPs, including a

split EP A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from " va ...

with

Extreme Noise Terror Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) 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,Bon ...

History

Trap Them began in 2001 as a side-project for Ryan McKenney, who at the time was the vocalist of

Backstabbers Incorporated Backstabbers Incorporated (sometimes called Backstabbers Inc. or BSI, and previously known as Life Passed On) were an American hardcore/metal band based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. History Backstabbers Incorporated was formed as Life Pas ...

and Brian Izzi, a brief second guitarist Backstabbers Incorporated, and consistent member of December Wolves. The pair first met as employees of

Newbury Comics Newbury Comics is an American comic book and music retailer based in New England. Newbury Comics began as a comic book vendor on Newbury Street in Boston. The company was founded in 1978 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology students John B ...

. They took the band's name from the 1977 film by

Joe D'Amato Aristide Massaccesi (15 December 1936 – 23 January 1999), known professionally as Joe D'Amato, was an Italian film director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter who worked in many genres ( westerns, decamerotici, peplum, war films, ...

called ''Trap Them And Kill Them'', known also as ''Emanuelle E Gli Ultimi Cannibali'' and ''Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals''. 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. On April 3, 2007, they released their debut album '' Sleepwell Deconstructor''. They toured Europe in early 2008 with the Ocean and

Rotten Sound Rotten Sound is a Finnish grindcore band from Vaasa, formed in 1993. The band comprises vocalist Keijo Niinimaa, guitarist Mika Aalto, bassist Kristian Toivainen, and drummer Sami Latva. The band has released eight studio albums and "earned a re ...

. Trap Them worked with

crust punk Crust punk (also known as crust or stenchcore) is a form of music influenced by English punk rock and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on politic ...

band

for a split EP 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 Maryland Deathfest (often abbreviated to MDF) is an annual American extreme metal festival founded in 2003 by Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting. The festival is held in Baltimore, Maryland during Memorial Day weekend, and it features many bands from ...

music festival in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The band went on US tours with Victims and Black Breath in May and June 2009, and

Skeletonwitch Skeletonwitch is an American metal band from Athens, Ohio, formed in 2003. The band currently consists of lead guitarist Nate Garnette, rhythm guitarist Scott Hedrick, bassist Evan Linger, and vocalist Adam Clemans. Original vocalist Chance Gar ...

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 Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include art ...

Records on 12" vinyl featuring an etching on the B-side by artist Justin Bartlett, who also drew the main cover. 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. In April 2011, the band embarked on a European tour to promote the album as main support for Rotten Sound. 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. It was the first album to feature their new bassist, Galen Baudhuin (Infera Bruo), and drummer Brad Fickeisen (No Salvation, ex-

The Red Chord The Red Chord is an American metal band from Revere, Massachusetts, formed in 1999. The group comprises vocalist Guy Kozowyk, guitarist/vocalist Mike "Gunface" McKenzie, bassist Greg Weeks and drummer Jon Rice. The band gained a fanbase with its ...

). '' Crown Feral'', the band's fifth and final studio album, was released on September 23, 2016, via

Prosthetic Records Prosthetic Records is an American record label specializing in heavy metal recordings, founded in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by E.J. Johantgen and Dan Fitzgerald. Prosthetic Records released the first two albums by Lamb of God and Animals ...

. The album was again recorded with producer

Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for hardcore punk band Converge and for his prolific recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early an ...

at the God City recording studio and featured artwork from artist Mattias Frisk. The band performed their final three shows in November in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

before disbanding.

Musical style and influences

Trap Them's music has been categorised as grindcore,

and metalcore. 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 Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. ...

bands. ''Metal Injection'' writer Christopher described their sound as Luedtke "Bringing a hardcore/punk,

d-beat D-beat (also known as Discore, kängpunk, Discrust, and crust-beat) is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre. D-be ...

, and grind attitude with death metal riffs ala

Grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...

". The band's influences include hardcore and crust punk bands, such as Black Flag,

Born Against Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989 and 1993. In addition to their radical leftist politics, the group espoused a DIY punk message and challenged what they perceived as being a problem within the p ...

, and

Tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

and metal bands like

Dismember Dismemberment is the act of cutting, ripping, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise disconnecting the limbs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with ...

and Entombed.

Members

;Final *Brian Izzi - guitar (2001-2017) *Ryan McKenney - vocals (2001-2017) *Brad Fickeisen - drums (2013-2017) *Galen Baudhuin - bass (2013-2017) ;Past *Nat Coghlan - bass (2006-2007) *Scott DeFusco - drums (2006-2007) *Mike Sharp - drums (2007-2008) *Derek Black - bass (2007) *Stephen LaCour - bass (2007-2011) *Mike Justian - drums (2008-2009) *Chris Maggio - drums (2009-2013) Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Sleepwell Deconstructor'' (2007,

Trash Art! Trash Art! is an independent record label from Providence, Rhode Island, specializing in loud music from punk and metal subgenres. The label was founded in 1997, and has issued releases on vinyl and compact disc formats by 16, Apartment 213, As Th ...

) * '' Seizures in Barren Praise'' (2008, Deathwish) * '' Darker Handcraft'' (2011,

Prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

) * '' Blissfucker'' (2014,

) * '' Crown Feral'' (2016,

)

EPs and splits

* ''77K7'' (2002, self-released) * ''Cunt Heir to the Throne'' (2007, Trash Art!) * '' Séance Prime'' (2007, Deathwish) * ''Extreme Noise Terror / Trap Them'' (split with

) (2008, Deathwish) * '' Filth Rations (2010,

)

Compilation contributions

* ''People Don't Take Pictures of Things They Want to Forget'' (2003)

References

External links

Trap Them artist page
at

Trap Them
at Deathwish Inc.
Ryan McKenney interviewed on The Bone Reader
{{Authority control American grindcore musical groups American crust and d-beat groups Hardcore punk groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups disestablished in 2017 Deathwish Inc. artists