Friday, July 18, 2008

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

REVIEW: Soulcraft08

Nowadays it doesn’t take too much for a band to be described as “hard”: just throw a mosh part here and there, go to the gym, listen to Alpha Omega 24/7, wear an OG Cro-Mags shirt on stage and create your hype. Anyway, there’s a huge difference between this and being really hard. Well, not a lot of bands around these days deserve this description, but Trapped Under Ice are undoubtedly one of them! I must admit it did take me some time to get into this band, but once you realize what this band is all about you’ll just love them. This Baltimore band gained a lot of popularity during the last months, and that’s what they deserve, for the amazing blend of NYHC that falls somewhere between Breakdown and Crown of Thornz is just brutality at its best. The 6 songs featured on “Stay Cold”, topped with one of the best artwork seen to date, will be the soundtrack to some pretty bad violence at their live shows. Once again Kitzel’s Reaper Records comes out with an amazing release!

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Tuesday, July 1, 2008

EXCERPT: Mind Over Matter blog

Mind Over Matter is a blog done by the singer of Belgian hardcore band, Rise And Fall. He had some nice things and very appreciated things to day in a recent blog entry about TUI. Check it out. Thanks, Bjorn.
One of the most exciting bands in hardcore these days is definitely Trapped Under Ice. That band is so ill. They are currently wrapping up their European tour and I would definitely advise you to go see them if you can. After that they have a full U.S. tour coming up with Terror. Talk about an awesome package. Their most recent EP on Reaper Records called "Stay Cold" is filled with well crafted, hard and sincere hardcore with a lot of groove. Crown Of Thornz and Breakdown are definitely references, yet it doesn't quite stop there. There's more to their sound and whatever it is, it's got a lot of people hooked. I love how a lot of older heads are super stoked on this band. I feel like this is one of those bands that could bring a lot of different types of hardcore kids to shows, in the same way that a band like American Nightmare did a few years ago. Either way, both lyrically and musically this band soars high, I hope to see more of them in the future.
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REVIEW: Aversion Online

The latest from the always awesome Reaper Records is the "Stay Cold" EP from Baltimore, MD's Trapped Under Ice, by far one of the best new metallic hardcore bands out there these days. And I've been eagerly awaiting the CD release of this EP 'cause it also contains their 2007 demo as bonus tracks (as well as a handful of live tracks and a dub version of "Evelyn" by Black Ark, but it's basically the studio material that I'm all about). Utilizing straightforward hardcore power chord rhythms and chunky NYHC styled breakdowns with tiny little doses of added metallic flare, quick lead breaks, and occasional flirtations with sparse melody (think Betrayed) doesn't exactly appear innovative on paper, and I'm not really saying these guys are rewriting the book or anything, but they're not so typical either. I'm not entirely sure what it is about 'em, but it's more of a big picture thing: The vocal approach and the lyrics, the way they keep the metal influence way under control, the sense of groove and its balance with the melodic undercurrents, and also the fact that all of the songs are so short - leaving no room for senseless repetition or noodling around. So, yeah, I don't need to analyze this shit. It's great material and there's a reason this band's getting a decent amount of "hype" or whatever, so… if you've never heard 'em before, absolutely check 'em out. I can't wait to hear more from these cats…

Trapped Under Ice "Skeleton Heads"

Return to the point of no return. You can't clean the slate, you can't wash away the dirt. Now my patience is fleeting, I can't escape the feeling. Brain waves, like a vortex in your mind. Absolutely, your time is coming. It's coming. It's coming. I'm going to be there to see the death of your desires, as your life expires to the guillotine.

It's also available on vinyl if you're old school like that (or via iTunes if you're on the other end of the spectrum), but I fully recommend the CD itself for the bonus material, obviously, so… make the grab one way or another if you like what you hear.

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