TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION
Another massively “meh” release from the Tempest era, which is unsurprising, all things considered. I would have to say in the case of Eye Of The Storm, it is the over-reliance on a rock/metal production to the tracks, which I’ve never really thought ICP is any good at. The production is pretty good though, so it gets middle marks. I cannot think of a single reason to pick this up and ever listen to it again.
Falls a bit flat in isolation, with the usual fare from Necro against a fairly mid beat. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just fails to really capture any feeling, be that disgust, awe or anything in between.
Short, sweet but mostly pointless solo EP from Shaggy 2 Dope. I say pointless because J is on these tracks too and the whole thing is produced by Mike E Clark, so you might as well as slapped a fuckin ICP logo on this thing and be done with it. In fact, track 4 “Three Rings” ends up on Riddle Box anyways (with slightly different lyrics). I’m not complaining though, whatever name it’s under this shit fuckin slaps hard. Got that wicked Detroit smog old school Ringmaster / Terror Wheel style hard beats and production, and Shaggy’s lyrics are hilarious. A classic from the clowns, for sure.
A shining example of fantastic modern hip hop. Four albums deep and I’m starting to crave a little bit more variety from RTJ’s sound but you can’t argue with those insane beats (seriously, so so good and with pristine production) and excellent flows. A confident effort from a band that know they are at the top of their game.
Free from the Joker’s Card legacy, ICP was rudderless and without direction. Let’s just be honest; that’s how it was. Or, at least, that’s how it seemed at the time. I loved both Wraith albums as a teenager. I thought both of them were fantastic for completely different reasons. But when The Calm dropped, I was bored to tears. And then, The Tempest came a few years later and I could not have been more bored and disinterested. It was like ICP with the soul sucked out of it. Recently I have relistened to this period of the band, which is arguably fully responsible for me falling off of ICP for over a decade. Whilst The Calm held up pretty well in retrospect, The Tempest does not. The Tempest is bloated, directionless and well, boring. Which sucks ass because the production on this thing is huge. I’m not sure where Mike E Clark ends and Fritz The Cat begins, or where the overlap lies, but there’s an extra sting in the tail when there’s so much talent and expertise stacked up behind an album that just fucking sucks. There are exceptions of course, “News at 6 O’Clock”, “The Tower” and “Mexico City” are pretty cool, but as a whole, this album blows.
Like most early Wu Tang solo efforts, Ironman is more like an extension of the 36 Chambers early 90s freshness, with a ton of the MCs from the main release showing up here like they do across a gamut of different releases. Like, Raekwon and fucking Cappadonna appear on almost every single track as well as the cover art haha – Throw in that trademark RZA production and you’re onto a winner, of course. Essential for the fans of Wu Tang (you don’t need me to tell you that), but probably just a solid rap record to everyone else.
This doesn’t sound anywhere near as bad as you’d think it would. To be honest, calling this an ICP release is really a stretch. I understand why it gets labelled as such, with the ICP gang existing a good while before ICP the musical project, but in J’s book he seems to make it out like this “Intelligence & Violence” project with D-Lyrical was something else entirely that pre-dated ICP. I guess he could be playing it down to fit a certain narrative, but both John KJ and Shaggy 2 Dope – the other original ICP members – are not present here either. Quality wise, this isn’t a million miles away from Basement Cuts. D-Lyrical barely pops his head up all that often, with J just rolling over the whole album. His raps are of varied quality; in some cases you can really feel the foundations for stuff like Carnival Of Carnage, in other cases the rhymes and/or flow are a bit shaky. But hey, this is really, really early days, so I can’t fault him for that.
Die Antwoord has always been a guilty pleasure. Their legacy perhaps hasn’t aged that well, but when I first heard SOS (it was “Enter The Ninja” playing over the stereo in a bar in Amsterdam) I had never heard anything quite like it. The rapping is objectively terrible but it’s also very entertaining, the production is great and well, I fell in love with Yolandi Visser for a short while in 2010. Just being real with you, I guess. Can’t say I loved everything they did but the first album is still cool to me.
Judging by the cover art this is a cheap cash-in “best of” that was supposed to collate some of ICP’s older stuff in one place for people new to the band with The Great Milenko. But don’t let the crappy cover art fool you. This is a great mix of old shit. A lot of the songs are cut down too, giving this record the vibe of an extended live set. I’m usually a guy who prefers songs in their original format / style / edit, but if you’ve heard the classic ICP stuff a million times this can be a good way to have a fresh rollercoaster ride through some of the highlights. My only complaint is that “Southwest Song” (arguably one of the group’s best cuts) is cut down to just one verse (as is “Wizard Of The Hood”) making the inclusion absolutely pointless. The telephone skits that punctuate the record are always very entertaining. All in all, a good release IMO. I’m about to bounce, I’ll see you round like a donut.
Interesting mix of styles that should be absolutely mind blowing but unfortunately falls a bit flat due to the production / instrument mix. Expect conscious rhymes over a variety of dirging, droning, apocalyptic soundscapes. On paper, this is far ahead of its time, but just misses the mark, sadly.
Part a typical Hyperdub conscious electronic music masterpiece, partly a garage / hiphop work of art. Love the dichotomy between the two styles, which can often go hand in hand but seem to work as separate elements here rather than harmonizing together in unison. And that’s OK, honestly. Also, as an aside, and I think this is true of many Hyperdub releases in general, this works so much better when being listened to at 3am!
You can always rely on Foreign Beggars for bringing some of the best grime flows against a backdrop of dubstep-inspired beats. Two solid tracks back to back on this thing. Tidy.
This one should have stayed at the idea stage. Quite probably one of the silliest things I’ve ever heard. I’m sure many juggalos dig it but I have absolutely nothing positive to say about this collaboration from an objective musical review perspective so I’ll just leave it at that lmao
I remember when The Calm first came out. After the double barrel of both Wraith albums, and what seemed to be the wrapping up of the whole Joker Card saga, The Calm seemed directionless. It was for the same reason that I disliked Bizzar and Bizaar; ICP without the dark carnival mythos was just hollow for me. Granted, I’m not a teenager anymore so in my 30s I can return to this EP and enjoy it for what it is: that being 8 tracks of quality juggalo hip hop. Nothing ground breaking for sure, but with Fritz The Cat behind the deck and Esham doing guesties on the hilarious “Deadbeat Moms” you could do far worse than The Calm.
Chill as fuck compilation of really, really cool dungeon synth tunes. This has turned me on to so many fucking cool as fuck DS artists, such as Lunar Cult, Gelure, Elminster (lol) and Villein. Can’t say I’ve ever played this game but the soundtrack is boss. Random Bandcamp find of the week!
Pointless, vapid bubblegum pop that sounds soulless and modern yet tired and outdated all at the same time. Mind you, this thing is so inoffensive it’s hard to justify getting riled up enough to give it a stinker of a review. The producers have made a fair enough effort in all fairness but Minogue sounds like she really can’t be arsed to even be here on her own album.
I’m not gonna lie to you, this shit is well outside of my wheelhouse. I only know Flowdan from his tracks with The Bug but damn his delivery is infectious, even though I’m not the biggest fan of grime (perhaps I’ve just not heard the right stuff). Either way, Serious Business is a solid 4 track EP and a great way to get into Flowdan’s solo stuff. “Ambush” and “Fuck About” are my favourite tracks here.
Better than the old shit, with the production being the highlight of the record (not sure if all of it is by Devereaux (sp?) but it’s really good work). But yeah, Ouija Macc clearly isn’t for me and to be completely honest this record is an embodiment of absolutely everything that I hate about rap, so I’m in no position to really objectively review this. It’s awful in my eyes, that’s all I can really say.
Checked out Ouijja Macc after the 3 Headed Monster albums with Violent J and Esham. It’s cool as fuck they brought him in and it did take me a while to warm to his voice but I really got into it by the time I was done with the first 3HM album. Unfortunately, I decided to start at the beginning and the title of this record says it all. I’m not just gonna sit here and talk shit about this guy but this record is just absolutely terrible. I’ll leave it at that.
This sounds almost identical to the previous 3HM album, to the point where I’m not even sure if it was from the exact same studio session. Some proper Load and ReLoad ass shit going down here. Like its predecessor, Obliteration, Rampage is firing on all cylinders about 60% of the time, with the rest being pointless, repetitive filler. There’s a moment or two where Ouija Macc gets given the space to shine but for the most part, they could have easily trimmed about half of the shit off of both of 2023’s albums and released one single record that TRULY reignited the fire for modern day wicked shit / horrorcore. Sadly the same quantity over quality model applied to most if not all self-released Psychopathic Records releases applies here to 3HM. Don’t get me wrong, this is some good shit, but a little quality control would go a long way in turning this project from good to great.
Heard about this collab on some recent interviews with Violent J but with everything Psychopathic you gotta go in with tempered expectations because it could very easily be a complete bag of shit. Thankfully, the first 3HM record has more bangers than stinkers, but still boasts a cache of frankly pointless tunes to bloat out its runtime, which, honestly, doesn’t outstay its welcome for once. The concept is great, the production is fantastic, and (I mean no disrespect here) whilst age has perhaps not been so kind to Esham’s voice, Violent J sounds great all gravely and shit. Putting Ouija Macc on this thing really mixed things up and bringing in some new blood was a smart move.
I guess if you’re gonna listen to horrorcore you might as go for the sickest, most depraved shit you can find. That being said, this stuff is so far down the rabbit hole / iceberg chart that it may be a bit too much for some people. You can trust anything labelled with Suicide Rap Orgy, Butcher’s Harem or MC Bushpig to have the seal of absolute depravity and sickness. Honestly, this shit is absurd. My favourite tracks are the ones where Bushpig plays off MC Slurry, her delivery against his really works together in a back and forth kinda way, making the back end of this album stacked as fuck. For true deviants and perverts only.
ABK often gets it in the neck for being a shining example of the shit that Psychopathic used to sign in the 00s. Personally, I think Boondox is infinitely shittier, but that’s another story for another time. It is true, some – if not most – of the tracks where ABK stands solo on this thing are just absolutely appalling. However there are collabs that prop up other tracks, and the backbone of ICP and the Psychopathic mixing staff gluing shit together. This leaves us with a surprising number of entertaining songs for an album that on first listen resulted in a reaction of physical revulsion. I’m gonna have to peep more ABK records to be sure, but because of the guest spots and fat production, this record has scraped through by the skin of its nuts.
Hell’s Pit is one of my favourite ICP releases (a rare album which doesn’t fall off into silliness) so I was stoked as all manner of fuck to hear these 9 tracks from those sessions that didn’t make the album. In some cases it’s obvious why the songs didn’t make the cut (and I’m glad all of these samples of twisted TV preachers didn’t make the record either, it gets a bit samey). There are some absolute fuckin’ gems here though, some proper deep cuts of wicked shit for those who have travelled deep into the brush in search of hatchet wielding diamonds. Tracks such as “Can’t End Myself” and “Alakazam” are twisted, dark horrorcore at its finest and it really makes me wish ICP stuck with this extra-surreal level of vivid storytelling. Hell’s Pit was the shit, and Hell’s Cellar, as uninspiring as the title may be, is an extra slice of disgusting freshness for the fans of the harder ICP material. Apparently there are more tracks from these sessions yet to be released, that will come with the 20th anniversary of Hell’s Pit this year. I’m looking forward to it!
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Kendrick Lamar but in the interest of returning to albums I last listened to a very long time ago, a review of Good Kid m.A.A.D. City was waaay overdue. I can commend the excellent writing and delivery, and the streaks of sampling that run in between the tracks offering a wider narrative that gives the whole experience much more depth. Production-wise, this shit is also on point, which you would except with Dre being involved.
Suffers the same fate as its brother/sister album, in that it cannot escape the mixed bag effect of “leftovers-from-Jeckel-Brothers-itis’. There are, as always, some high points, but when the peaks drop into the troughs, there are some serious low points for sure. Production is great, as the Esham cover / reworking of “Cherry Pie”, but I could really give or take this entire era of the band’s history.
Some really sick beats on display here, but it is debatable whether G Rap and Necro work together all that well. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not awful, but it doesn’t feel so much here like these two worked together, more than that someone took verses from both of them and slapped them both into the same songs. On the surface it works pretty well but if you wanna go deeper then you can’t.
Even as a huge ICP fan in the 2000s I always overlooked Bizzar and Bizaar. For one, the covers looked awful, and they sat outside of the joker’s card series, so I didn’t really see the point in them. They kinda flew under the radar. People hyped the Jeckel Brothers. People hyped the Wraith albums. Nobody gave a shit about these “bizarre” albums, at least not in my experience. I don’t know if I’m carrying that baggage in now finally checking them out, because instead of “towards the end of the golden age” style ICP that I was expecting, the quality here isn’t that good. To be fair, there’s a mix here, but for the most part I was left unimpressed.
Over the course of albums from Boomin’ all the way to Mail Dominance you can trace a slow but deliberate change in Esham’s music. Each album along the way is another iteration of what could be considered a classic Esham sound, but each era had its own distinct vibe and production. Tongues is a mixed bag in comparison, both in terms of quality as well as regards to production and musical structure. Not only do the songs only hit about 50% of the time, but the ride varies wildly from marveling at clever rhymes to cringing harder than we have at any point in running through Esham’s discography thus far. Also, this album is long as fuck, which doesn’t help. All in all, the production quality is fantastic and the sound is crystal clear, so I can’t fault it for that. Oh, and some of the guest spots are pretty cool too.
I’ve listened to this countless times since it dropped last summer all with the mind of writing about it here but as enjoyable as it is, I’ve had no real inspiriation to come and talk about it. One has to ask why that is the case. There is nothing particularily wrong with the songs on this EP, in fact they are actually rather pleasant and whilst I don’t feel they really push the envelope in any way, they are examples of Aphex Twin’s twisted genius. Tidy.
Damn, this shit is all over the place! A blistering mix of blasting grindcore carnage and barrages of industrial noise, all chopped and changed up into glitchy, headache-inducing soundscapes. I guess think of breakcore techniques but applied to a slightly different musical landscape. (Recommended by kay192x, thank you!)
Excellent songwriting from one of the stronger names in the current British underground. Perhaps Spectral Intercession does not live up entirely to the sheer excellence of Septic Funeral but this is still a solid follow-up and a solid debut to boot. The HM2 buzzsaw sound in 2023 is no doubt polarising and is indeed a bold choice, because Coffin Mulch are NOT just another one of those derivative copycat bands. The songwriting is nuanced and original and I do genuinely fear that a lot of folk are gonna go “HM2 clone/worship LOL” and look no further. Fortunately, from what I can tell, that isn’t happening too much. But yeah, looking forward to see where these guys go from here.
(It’s worth mentioning the OST originally came out with the game it featured in back in 1998, but wasn’t realised as a stand-alone OST until 2001) Easily one of the best game OSTs of all time, but there is always the risk that I am heavily biased, having played this game to death when I was 9 to 10 years old. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved it. Hoenig’s soundtrack is a million miles away from his original Berlin School work, instead meandering between pompous fantasy bombast (the Baldur’s Gate theme is just so perfect for this) and well as super chill and relaxing tunes, such as the ones that play when you are walking through wilderness. Honest to fucking God, these “forest ambience” tracks still play in my mind when I’m walking through woods today with my dogs. That shit has stuck there forever. But yeah – this is up there with the best of them regarding fantasy game OSTs, with Eric Herberling’s Daggerfall and Jeremy Soule’s Morrowind.
I learnt recently that the composer for the Baldurs Gate 1 & 2 soundtracks was a member of Tangerine Dream and also released solo albums such as this. Hence then, the inevitable “working backwards” excercise in which I have now had the pleasure of hearing this lovely, well-made synthesizer record. Utilising, perhaps obviously, the spacey ambience of the Berlin School style, Hoenig presents to us a series of compositions that excellent detail other astral worlds and the exciting prospects of possibly one day being able to explore them. There is a sense of wonder in the compositions, but they remain grounded and are not too fancifull or “out there”, if that makes any sense. I really enjoyed this one!
Death In June clone this may be, but it has its moments of genius and songwriting flair. I commend these moments of brilliance, but they are often mixed in with other less inspired passages and some just downright terrible arrangements. A mixed bag, but when it’s good, it scratches that neofolk itch perfectly.
Great traditional single release of smoky, dark folk music, with Side A being by far the strongest. Dude and Wolfe play off each other brilliantly and really make for a captivating duo.
What a U-turn…. LOL Whilst not as “weak” as Turbo, Ram It Down doubles down on the 80s-to-the-max vibes of stadium bands of that time period. BUT – and its a big but – the electronics here have a much more industrial element to them, at least that’s how it seems to me. There’s a coldness to them, a harshness and a heaviness. So instead I find myself welcoming these strange electronic / rhythmic elements into Priest’s otherwise organic rock sound, instead of rejecting the sterility like I did with Turbo. It’s still difficult to see how they took a leap from this to something like Painkiller (a different drummer definitely helped), but for an album I was expecting to generally be pretty “meh”, I found myself enjoying a lot of Ram It Down, despite the fact that it has an odd sound and is a bit of a mixed bag, tracks like “I’m A Rocker”, “Johnny B Goode” and “Monsters Of Rock” make the final third of this thing pretty painful to get through. Thankfully, “Heavy Metal”, “Hard As Iron” and “Blood Red Skies” more than make up for those failures.
As enjoyable as Twilight Of The Gods is, there is something about that pales in comparison to some of the earlier records in a similar style. It is difficult to put my finger on it, purely because there is nothing “wrong” per se with anything that I am hearing. There is also the fact that TOTG was the first “viking” Bathory album I heard (before I decided to address them chronologically, which was a much better idea). For years I struggled to get into this thing due to the massive 14 minute opening track. I am not adverse to long songs I just found it a bit much for music that essentially “plods”. Does the song really need to be that long? Whether it does or not, it put me off for a very long time. However it is with a new found appreciation for later Bathory records that I still struggle if just only slightly with the entirety of TOTG. On paper though it is still a very solid entry into the band’s varied discography and perhaps the band’s truly final “good” album, in light of those that follow? I’ll leave that up to you.
Archival, looping ambient drones from multi-faceted electronic genius Mortiis. The Shadow Of The Tower is purely for the die-hard collector, however. There is nothing really of merit here for the new listener, unless you are stumbling into this Mortiis release blind from the drone / ambient world, then by all means tuck in. The Shadow Of The Tower is one single 30+ minute piece of repetitive droning atmosphere. It does not invoke a sense of dread or unease, nor on the other hand does it irritate or provide any real boredom. It kind of “just is”.
Underwhelming.com flash sale! Mesmeric Enabling Device sounds like lazy noise I used to make in my early 20s when I figured out how the paulstretch tool worked. Considering the names involved, this is heavily disappointing.
What an unusual and endearing sound. First impressions come across like a mixture of Oi! and the post-punk recipe perfected by groups such as Joy Division. An interesting mix for sure. Comparisons to acts like Black Magick SS would not be incorrect to make (particularily in regards the ethereal wails found in opening track “Sailing To Other Lands”), but there is a more of an earthy, grounded feel to the songwriting from Longbow (and overall sound/vibe).
I take no pleasure in declaring that this has to be one of the worst things that I have ever heard. Musically I suppose it’s quite strong, but generally the songwriting is appalling and both vocal performances here make me cringe so hard I feel like I’m going to have a stroke. When I say things like “folk rock band based in Elder Scrolls lore” or “it sounds like The Handsome Family for fans of Skyrim” out loud I perhaps should have been able to forewarn myself about the pitfalls of attempting such a sound. But alas, I waded in anyway, and my ears paid the price. Hideously bad, I’m so sorry to say.
I took a chance on this after falling in love with the cover art. My previous experience with Ponty goes no further than the Aurora album, something which I found to be a touch underwhelming, in all honesty. Hopes were not high for Mystical Adventures, then. I am pleased to report however, that the record blew all previous conceptions that I may have held well and truly out of the water. Mystical Adventures does not sit squarely in the prog and jazz fusion worlds, at least not in its general vibe and delivery. There are a fantastical invocations of far-off worlds (mystical or otherwise!) and almost a medieval vibe underneath the pristine and modern (for the time) instrumentation. I have found Mystical Adventures a blissful escapism record as of late. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but would perhaps stop short of rating it as some of the greatest music of all time. I do however, now have a renewed interest in the work of Jean-Luc Ponty. Tidy!
