Trap Metal
Trap metal, also known as ragecore or scream rap, fuses distorted rhythms, aggressive hip-hop flows, and harsh vocals with downtuned heavy metal guitars and pounding kicks, creating an intense, often industrial soundscape. Emerging around 2014, it draws heavily from trap and heavy metal, incorporating elements of industrial metal and nu metal into its abrasive sonic palette. Early pioneers like Bones and British rapper Scarlxrd are quintessential artists, shaping the genre's raw and energetic identity. This fusion genre has significantly impacted contemporary underground music, offering a cathartic outlet through its aggressive sound.
More about Trap Metal
Trap Metal is one of the most aggressive and polarising genres to emerge from the American and international underground scene in the 2010s. Born from the collision between trap — a hip-hop sub-genre from the American South characterised by triplet hi-hats and deep bass — and extreme metal, it was established by artists like $uicideboy$, City Morgue, and Ghostemane. The genre embodies a nihilistic and transgressive aesthetic at the crossroads of rap and hardcore.
Musically, trap metal combines heavy trap productions with distorted guitars, saturated vocals borrowed from screamo or death metal, and violent breakdowns. The mood is deliberately dark and confrontational: lyrics address depression, death, rage, and the rejection of social norms, with a cathartic intensity that resonates strongly with marginalised listeners. The genre has close ties with alternative rap, metal, and punk.
KIM DRACULA is one of the most talked-about rising figures in the global trap metal scene, with a spectacular stage presence and a strong visual identity that have helped propel the genre onto major festival stages. The gothic look and hybrid productions perfectly illustrate trap metal's ability to fuse seemingly incompatible aesthetics into a coherent and hard-hitting whole.
Trap metal has gradually made its way into metal and hip-hop festivals, often as a disruptive act in conventional line-ups. Events like Download Festival, Wacken, and Hellfest have begun booking genre artists, recognising their ability to attract young audiences hungry for transgression. Dedicated trap metal festivals remain rare, but the genre's presence in mainstream line-ups has grown considerably.