Trap Them

Trap Them fuses metal’s crushing guitar onslaught with the breakneck pace and seething vocals of hardcore punk, pursuing an aesthetic of deliberate extremes. Vocalist Ryan McKenney of Backstabbers Inc. and guitarist Brian Vincent Izzi of December Wolves launched the project in 2002, united by their admiration for such unyielding groups as Entombed, Disfear, and Black Flag. Working initially with a drum machine, the pair composed material and issued an EP on their own; its debut run of one hundred copies sold out from the merch table while McKenney was still touring with Backstabbers Inc. By 2004 both musicians had left their prior bands, allowing Trap Them to stabilize around bassist Derek Black and drummer Mike Sharp. Early in 2007 the quartet aligned with Trash Art Records for the 7-inch EP Cunt Heir to the Throne, which was swiftly followed by the full-length Sleepwell Deconstructor. Extensive touring supported the album, which drew strong notices from the underground press, and Deathwish Inc. signed the band that spring. Support runs alongside Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror preceded the late-2008 release of their second album, Seizures in Barren Praise. Maintaining a rigorous touring schedule, the group remained productive enough to issue the 2010 EP Filth Rations and, the following year, the third LP Darker Handcraft. That record marked their debut on Prosthetic Records, the label that would also issue the 2014 album Blissfucker. The latter introduced bassist Galen Baudhuin of Infera Bruo and drummer Brad Fickeisen of No Salvation and the Red Chord, while longtime collaborator Kurt Ballou of Converge again handled production duties. Their fifth album, Crown Feral, appeared in September 2016.