Trapped Under Ice/Dirty Money split 7"

Trapped Under Ice, the new beast of the hardcore world (see post below this one) and Dirty Money from the UK teamed up earlier this year to release a split EP on Dead and Gone Records. I am a big fan of Trapped Under Ice and was generally ignorant of Dirty Money until this release, Trapped Under Ice reinforces why I love them, and Dirty Money has piqued my interest in the rest of what they do.

Getting straight down to it, Trapped Under Ice takes the first half of this split with two tracks that while similar to those found on their 'Stay Cold' EP, have a distinctly different vibe from them. The tracks are easily much heavier than most of what can be found on 'Stay Cold' in my eyes. 'Gemini' leads off, it's a heavy pummeling track that maintains the flow and 'groove' of their old material, putting it all into a great package. I think I would say that it's probably the best single song they've put out as a band, which sets the bar pretty high for the rest of this release. The second track, 'Death Clock Ticking' continues in the same direction as the first track, while not as memorable as the first. I probably would have put this track first as 'Gemini' steals the show, but both tracks sound distinctly un-'Stay Cold' and awesome.

This was my first exposure to Dirty Money, listening to their half of this split, I would sum them up as a more traditional, east coast sounding hardcore band. The material is not groundbreaking in any way, but it's solid. The lyrics are interesting and I really like the vocals, but getting right down to it, Dirty Money's half of the split just isn't as strong as TUI's which I think would be true of many bands put on the second half of this split, but at the same time it's getting exposure to a band that might otherwise get over looked.

Overall, this is a great split. Trapped Under Ice's half in particular is really good, but this has also opened my eyes to another good band in Dirty Money. Both of these bands are hitting the road together in January and this is a great chance to get familiar with both.

Trapped Under Ice on MySpace
Dirty Money on MySpace
Dead and Gone Records