Trapt's debut release shows off a rough, dirtier version of their fragile rage and warm melodic ability. The group powers through a rap oriented perspective here with rapcore styled lyrics and thick effects that tranquilize the listener with their swampy depth. There's a few noticeable influences within the groups music, possibly a touch of sloppier Incubus and even a bit of dredg but overall there's a lot of verbal melody hooked into the rapid song structures, and this keeps things flowing at a constant pace. Vocally the bulk of the album features some restrained screams and fleet footed flows that spit out disjointed rhymes and fade seamlessly into melody without trying to come off as aggravated or hard, instead they sound honest and genuine and give an often delicate angle to the style of music the band creates. Talented and reserved, band frontman Chris sheds some touching lyrics that are a bit marred by the hectic pace, yet still contain enough integrity to come off with a potent flair. Guitars are heavily coated in effects for the most part and sound rugged, yet powerful. Three guitarists define the bands sonically indulgent side, and there's always something going on whether it be in the background or charging at the forefront. Although this tends to keep things a bit clustered at times, there's some alien sounds and entrancing riffage injected in the music and works out positively as a whole. Bass is a bit downtuned and lethargic with large rounded basslines and a few percussive notes here and there along with drawn out hits and booming notes that belt out the lowend with fury while establishing close ties to the drums. Still while this is in place for most songs, there's tendencies to occasionally venture off into funk stuttered plucking and slap and pop grooves. Perhaps a bit coarse, their inclusion here is still quite an integral part of the music. Drums pummel out snare heavy beats that advance with a moderately tuned kit that feels both warm and dull at the same time. The steady playing tends to function in the strain of more of a hip hop beat and doesn't really accelerate, which ends up keeping the music grounded, creating a very humble percussive journey, as well as a firm pathway for the bass. The bands sound is far from polished here, but there's a lot of talent shown and with some trimming of the fat and tighter song structures its obvious that the talent they possess will fully shine through. Trapt's title choice for this release is quite fitting as they tend to amalgamate various influences and ideas into one direct piece, unfortunately though, ties that bind the tracks together are a bit too loose and need to be tightened a bit before the band can really capitalize on what they have here, despite this, the album is still quite enjoyable and shows the promise and potential they have, which without a doubt will expand and improve in the coming years.
(3.5 / 5)