Trapped In Life 12 Icons

When I first flipped through the booklet for 12 Icons, I was immediately turned off by the track title and lyrics to “Cunts And Cocks,” although the Bloodlet-with-a-side-of-Earth Crisis style riff of “Sacred Heart” that I was listening to concurrently was pretty decent. I don’t like that word, even in an artform. Nevertheless, Trapped In Life is a French hardcore band with a distinctly American flava'. Equal parts hardcore and metal, "12 Icons" is an introduction to international metalcore. (Brit bands like Stampin’ Ground don’t count, because English is its first language!) Drummer Dje’s footwork really stands out on “Endless.” It sounds like he’s stomping on a typewriter. Vocalist Julien spends most of 12 Icons screaming bloody murder, with a few strategically placed death metal growls. Some of the guitar work reminds me of mid-90s metalcore like Madball or even Biohazard (sans the urbanisms, of course). Trapped In Life has obviously done its homework. Looks like the heavy music fans overseas have the same idea we do and enjoy keeping the metalcore as abrasive and punishing as possible. Lots of quality breakdowns live on 12 Icons, and a nice communal chant on “Gimme Some.” There are some unknown guest appearances, which add some variety to the vocals. The lyrics are pretty disturbing as well, just the way we like it! Bottom Line: You will feel caught in the cultural crosshairs on 12 Icons. It’s got nothing to do with what’s going on in the world right now, but you can “tell” this was influenced by American metalcore, yet that it isn’t organically American. That’s not a bad thing, either. It’s nice to see what’s going on across the world. This band would probably make some fans if it toured here.