Moletrap’s new EP, Mid Welsh, Pt. 1, arrives like a thunderclap over the Cambrian peaks! Five tracks that bottle the raw force of their homeland while shouting its stories into the world. Based between Mid Wales and Bristol, the trio are indeed crafting anthems that carry the grit of history, the pulse of protest, and the deep breath of the Welsh mountains.
Opening track Rhagofn sets the stage with folk-tinged violin licks that cut through distortion, a collision of tradition and modern urgency. The vocals land with grit and conviction, bridging intimacy and defiance, while the rhythm section storms ahead like rolling hills in motion. From there, the band flexes their range: Taffy channels ragged garage rock energy, equal parts swagger and grit, while What a Beautiful Place pivots toward soaring harmonies, marrying indie warmth with the weight of alt-rock muscle.
Middle of the Land is where Moletrap’s identity roars loudest, an anthem that feels carved straight out of Mid Wales itself. With every riff, bass rumble, and shouted chorus, the track refuses to let its landscape or people be ignored. Closing track Nation of Sanctuary ties it all together: groove-laced yet heavy, celebratory yet biting, it captures the paradox of Wales as both refuge and battleground, sanctuary and site of struggle.
Mid Welsh, Pt. 1 is noteworthy for its sense of rootedness. These songs wrestle with language, colonisation, and the uneasy transformation of rural land into tourist fantasy. They are declarations of belonging, born from a band who once distanced themselves from their language only to return with fire in their voices. Their bilingual delivery, their snarling guitars, their restless grooves; everything works in service of place and people.
Moletrap sound like the Cambrian Mountains themselves: wild, uncontainable, alive with rumble and crash. In a landscape of recycled alt-rock tropes, they’re digging into their soil and finding something unmistakably their own!
