Looking to rage away your case of the Mondays? Well in the words of Trap Them vocalist Ryan McKenney, Crown Feral‘s “pure and honest violence” should do the trick. After the floating-towards-the-inferno ominosity of “Kindred Dirt,” just try making it through ten seconds of “Hellionaires” without destroying something (hopefully cheap) nearby. Throughout Crown Feral – which is out September 23rd from Prosthetic Records – Brian Izzi’s agile guitarwork invokes the barbed riffs of Darker Handcraft while retaining the relentless hardcore sludge of 2014’s Blissfucker. The record flat-out demolishes, and Trap Them will be leveling cities across Europe and the East Coast with these songs this fall (tour dates at the bottom).
Stream Crown Feral‘s combustible cocktail of crust, hardcore, and grind below. After, check out Ryan McKenney’s thoughts on the record, his quiet moments between tours, and get a macabre arts & (darker hand)crafts lesson about practical uses of dried blood. But first: Get in touch with your wild wide with Crown Feral.
After Blissfucker, did the band have any internal conversations about what you wanted to approach or execute differently on Crown Feral?
Ryan McKenney: We’ve never had any in-depth conversations in between records about what we’d like to do differently on the next one, mainly because there has never been a time where we’ve found ourselves in the position of being unsatisfied with what we’ve made. From the onset of this band’s formation, there’s never been a conscious decision or compulsion to “experiment.” I think the only thing [guitarist Brian Izzi] and I discussed – or brought up to each other at all before the writing process began – was that we wanted to make a traditional-length classic rock record: Ten songs with a running time of between thirty and forty minutes. Other than that, as with all of our releases, there were no guidelines to follow, except that I informed Brian well in advance that I planned on making Crown Feral, both the recording and the shows that follow, my version of pure and honest violence.
Are there any themes Crown Feral explores that are especially meaningful to you?
McKenney: I can’t sit here and bullshit my way through pretending there is a deep, all-encompassing meaning to what I did for Crown Feral. I was honest, whether or not anyone can see that. It’s just that I’m not able to be blunt or straight forward as much as I once could be; words don’t fit together in an easily digestible form like they used to. The record, and its theme therein, is how I believe it has come across: An acknowledgement of paralyzing defeat and an acceptance of never being able to get back to the person you once were.
You have about 2 weeks between your upcoming European tour and your killer East Coast tour with Yautja. How do you plan on spending that time?
McKenney: Staring at walls, looking out windows, nursing a hangover and/or bangover, and walking around aimlessly…much like all of our tours. I don’t make plans anymore because I know that I’m easily distracted and rarely remember to do anything that I may have originally intended on doing. That’s part of the enjoyment for me; when I actually get the chance to do or see something that I had hoped to, it’s a nice surprise.
I have some of your nose blood on my battle vest from a past tour. Are you familiar with any practical uses of dried blood?
McKenney: Well, I’ve put blood in every painting I’ve made…I don’t think I’ve ever said anything about that. But, as far as dried blood goes, my immediate thought is that if it is flaky enough to crush into small pieces, it would be great to use as freckles on the face of a porcelain doll. Or, if you amass a large supply, varying in size, I’d lay it all out and use a spray sealant for all of the chips and then use them in a snow-globe. The possibilities are infinite.
Pre-order Crown Feral in your preferred format below, and check out the tour dates below to get more macabre arts & crafts ideas.
North American CD/Vinyl bundle pre-orders HERE.
UK/European CD/Vinyl bundle pre-orders HERE.
Or get your digital downloads at Bandcamp, iTunes, or Amazon.
TRAP THEM TOUR DATES
10/14 Koln, DE – Underground #
10/15 Eindhoven, NL – Bloodshed Fest
10/16 Antwerp, BE – Kavka #
10/17 London, UK – Boston Music Room #
10/18 Sheffield, UK – Corporation #
10/19 Birmingham, UK – Rainbow Courtyard #
10/20 Paris, FR – Gibus #
10/21 Zurich, CH – Kings Club #
10/22 Karlsruhe, DE – Stadtmitte #
10/23 Berlin, DE – Cassiopeia #
10/24 Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang #
10/25 Stockholm, SE – Cyklopen #
10/26 Oslo, NO – Bla #
11/10 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie ^
11/11 Baltimore, MD – Windup ^
11/12 Brooklyn, NY – Saint Vitus ^
11/13 Binghamton, NY – Fitzies Irish Pub ^
11/14 Cleveland, OH – The Foundry ^
11/15 Chicago, IL – Subterranean ^
11/16 Detroit, MI – El Club ^
11/17 Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground ^
11/18 Montreal, QC – Turbo Haus ^
11/19 Boston, MA – Great Scott ^
# with Okkultokrati & Venom Prison
^ with Yautja
