Ill Bill/Ghoul EP (2018)

I have not kept up with the horror rap or 'horrorcore' subgenre of hip hop since the concept was introduced to me by groups like Flatlinerz or the Gravediggaz back in the 90s, so artists like Necro or Ill Bill have been entirely off my radar, until I saw this amusing idea for a split between the latter and Creepsylvania's death/thrash champions Ghoul. It's not the sort of team up you experience every day, and the hope for me was that the two acts would integrate one another's styles and make this splattery looking collectible a memorable trip to gory excess and some streetwise badassery, but the fact is that couldn't be further from the truth...this is just two entirely different groups doing their own thing with little regard for how it matches up as a product with the other, and the result is all too lopsided and obviously not in the favor of the rapper...

Ill Bill's track (featuring 'Goretex', and really, every fucking hip hop track these days has to be a 'feature' of some sort) is basically a mix of El-P sounding lyrical flow with beats and atmosphere that sounds a lot like the Wu-Tang Clan. It starts out with a pretty cool sample, and the production also seems like it'll be decent, but after about a moment it loses its luster and the rhyming just feels repetitive. It does sort of give off a horror in tha hood vibe with the synthesizers and effects, but the lyrics don't really hone in on the subject all that much and so one wonders why nobody told him to make it a little scarier. On the other hand, Ghoul's contribution, "Splatterthrash 2: Thrash Damage", is quite an excellent and explosive tune with a lot of energy behind it, a good sense for melody and I'd run it up against any single song on their most recent album Dungeon Bastards. Gang shouts, thrashing, jerking rhythms and the tune utterly beats the rap into a bloody pulp and it's not even funny. You'd might as well thrown a Boyz II Men track on the A-side and it would have the same effect. 

Really, to make this work you'd have needed a pretty sinister sounding rap artist with a heavier cut, and maybe even some samples from Ghoul riffs or whatever. I appreciate that the two acts are friends or just mutual admirers and wanted to show their love for horror and splatter but it just feels like a gimmick. If this was a 7" with two great new Ghoul tracks I would have liked it infinitely more, but as it stands I can really only award most of the points here to the Creepsylvanians and hope that they'll toss this tune on the next full-length as a bonus track so most people can experience it in a superior environment.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

http://www.creepsylvania.com/
https://illbill.bandcamp.com/

Cubbiebear - The Rape (2008)

Funny name, hip-hop album, metal review site. Seems like all three strikes necessary to toss this abstract piece of insanity to the dogs, right?

Wrong.

The Rape is a showcase of serpentine lyrical abilities, aschewing verse/chorus/verse club bumping for progressive song layouts and an affinity for post-production touchups that drive the songs further down the rabbit hole. Far from being pop-sensible, and sometimes far from sensible period, the songs often deconstruct themselves into an array of sonic chaos, scattershot samples, and potshot drumbeats amongst emotional assaults of some of the most venomous put to tape in years, the rebuild from seeming chaos into a tangible form.

Essentially, this is not Kanye West. This is Baltimore's Cubbiebear and, while the album displays a bit of immaturity and the lack of big-time financial support can hinder things, the thought process behind The Rape is pure, if a bit off-kilter, and a completely original take on the rap genre as a whole.

Trying to describe the music contained here is a bit difficult. Samples are chopped, slowed, put through turntables, twisted, and filtered to a degree that can almost seem excessive at times... but when the vocals and the beats are given the same treatment, often molding the entirety of the track into a stuttering digital trainwreck, you can't help but notice the amount of effort put into each and every tune. The samples, beats, and vocals are all extensions of the idea, and the idea is the prime controller of the process.

The rap performance here is pretty astounding, even if it is a battle-rap style. Cubbiebear does, in a way, battle through the entire CD: He passes off line after line of jagged cement haymakers at modern hip-hop culture with a certainty and conviction that's difficult to second guess. Tough shots like this one directed at 50 cent from the song "Contra":

You're not a bad motherfucker

If your demographic is only 13 and under

I can't recommend people check out The Rape enough, and the video for "Contra" can easily be found on Youtube if you're so inclined.

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10]

http://www.cubbiebear.net/