Review Summary: Trapped Under Ice ultimately run out of steam on their debut full length and produce a mediocre hardcore album.
Coming off one of the strongest debuts in hardcore of recent memory on their Stay Cold EP, Trapped Under Ice attempt to catch lightning in a bottle once again on their debut full length Secrets of the World. TUI are back this time with a slicker production which has taken a bit of the bite out of the sound. Secrets of the World starts off in hurry with "See God". If the breakdown at the end doesn't make you bob your head you might want to check your pulse. The next two songs, "Believe" and "American Dreams", start off with some furious riffs only to run out of fumes 2/3 of the way through and switching to mid-tempo beats. "Believe" makes it even worse by adding guest vocals by TAD of Stout which all but ruin the song. This becomes the common theme with Secrets of the World. There are many moments of greatness when you think the album is going to be awesome but they are quickly extinguished by one pitfall or another. The song "TUI" might be the worst song on the album. If you are not a hip hop artist, please do not state your name repeatedly in any song. "Too True" serves as a great song right in the middle of the album and sports multiple tempo shifts with a tasty solo towards the end, something you don't see in hardcore too often but is a welcome addition. Secrets sludges on in mediocrity with "Eye Hand", "From Birth", and "Titus" never giving the listener a terrible song, but also not offering up anything with substance either. TUI caps off the album with "Against the Wall", maybe the best song on the album and one of its most aggressive, and " World I Hate" another mediocre mid-tempo snore-fest. To put it simply, Secrets of the World is a roller-coaster ride, and not in a good way. There are more than a few moments of excellence (See God, Too True, Against the Wall), but they are muddled with mid-tempo, boring, and generic sounding hardcore songs. It sounds like TUI might have run out of ideas while recording this album, which is the challenge of recording a great full length album versus recording a great ep. If the listener is looking for something to mosh to, they definitely have it in Secrets of the World, but they would be well advised to listen to Stay Cold first.
