{"id":94290,"date":"2022-06-08T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T23:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=94290"},"modified":"2022-07-11T14:17:52","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T13:17:52","slug":"ep-release-trade-makers-serial-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-release-trade-makers-serial-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"TRADE MAKERS – Serial Killer EP (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

TRADE MAKERS
Serial Killer EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Arguably boasting one of the most banal names in metal, Latvia\u2019s Trade Makers sort of make up for it with the cover artwork of this debut EP. However, once inside prepare to be \u201centertained\u201d by a down to the wire Accept imitation. Vocalist Roberts is a dead ringer for Udo Dirkschneider, and at times that isn\u2019t a good thing because there are moments when he struggles with the warbles. Even so, this is a standard heavy \/ speed metal EP boasting four mediocre bone rattlers.<\/p>\n

The best track here is probably the energetic opener \u2018Eye To Eye\u2019. It\u2019s snappy, thrashy and full of fire in its percussive expression, but other than that it\u2019s as predictable as it gets. Some of the lead work from Olivers is nifty and makes a break from the vocal tension, and in general the band is adept at creating rather fiery metal. It\u2019s a shame then that the vocals have to adopt such an approach.<\/p>\n

\u2018Hellspawn\u2019 offers up further barroom speed metal with a steady percussion nod, but those vocals really do struggle to get that high note on the chorus. \u2018Serial Killer\u2019 melts into the others, as does \u2018City Streets Of Death Sentence\u2019, making this a rather generic metal experience doused in 80s nuances.<\/p>\n

If you want further evidence of how the vocals are a weakness then the title cut is a prime example of such unstable warbling. Again, the track is rescued by the fine lead work and steady rhythm of bass and drum, and you get a nice traditional metal vibe going. And it\u2019s the same with \u2018City Streets Of Death Sentence\u2019 which plods along nicely, but it\u2019s like you start to dread the vocal interference. Without such an intervention the track builds nicely into a speed metal number and one cannot help but feel that with a stronger, more stable vocalist, and probably a different band moniker, these guys could emerge as a solid Latvian force.<\/p>\n

For now, the froggy vocal outbursts mar this opus considerably, raking it with bullet holes and weakening its power. Trade Makers won\u2019t evolve under such unsteady yet harsh commands.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TRADE MAKERSSerial Killer EP Self-released (2022)Rating: 5\/10 Arguably boasting one of the most banal names in metal, Latvia\u2019s Trade Makers sort of make up for it with the cover artwork of this debut EP. However, once inside prepare to be \u201centertained\u201d by a down to the wire Accept imitation. Vocalist Roberts is a dead ringer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4879],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-trade-makers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94291,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94290\/revisions\/94291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}