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REVIEW:
Overall Rating:
 
Lyrics:
Beats:
Written By:
The Reccollectah
Note :
This review was written before the interview with BSBD was
turned in, therefore some remarks might not fit 100 % with
what we learn from today’s interview.
Nevertheless, enjoy...
A:
Artwork
The beautiful artwork ( provided by NubianImage and Carlos
Fuentez) fits the project’s atmosphere perfectly. As with
Holocaust lyrics, it’s layer upon layer, you keep
discovering things no matter how many times you looked at it
before.
B: Blue Sky Black Death
Talented production duo with a very versatile but unique
sound who had already worked with the likes of
Hieroglyphics, Jus Allah, Guru and Chief Kamachi and many
others before they teamed up with Holocaust.
C: Comic Book Heroes/ Cinema
Throughout his lyrics you can find references to comic book
heroes such as Robert Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk,
Superman, Spiderman, Robin and Batman … Also often used for
inspiration are movie characters or scenes, be it classic
(horror) movies or obscure B-films, Holocaust sucks it all
in and uses it whenever he sees fit.
D:
Dark City
Holocaust’s favourite way of describing Los Angeles, the
city seems to be very important in his lyrics.
E: Exquisite, emotional, extraordinary, excellent, …
All good adjectives to describe the music served by Blue Sky
Black Death throughout this album .
F: Follow-up
Although a creative triumph, I wouldn’t hold my breath on
ever seeing a sequel to this project as the Holocaust and
BSBD camps are no longer on speaking terms after this album
was released … a shame.
G: Greek Mythologies
One of Holocaust’s many atypical influences, check track 10
“Smoking room” where he brings us the classic myths of
Daedelus, Icarus and the Minotaur’s legendary labyrinth of
Crete:
“The
Labyrinth was an intricate building
of chambers and passages
Constructed walls high and so asked,
too complex and confused”
… which when
you come to think of it, fits perfectly as a metaphor for
Holocaust’s unique lyrics.
H: Holocaust
Name of this album and also one of the MC’s better known
aliases besides Warcloud , Robot Tank , Alcatraz, the Sign
of Hells Winter, …
I: Indians
Another always reoccurring subject in his lyrics. On
Warghost's interview Bomshot said Warcloud was has Red
Indian heritage.
J:
Jaw
“Because I
move a stone your jaw gets swollen”
(line from “We all are well known”)
With this
line, explaining the ‘Action and Reaction’ -theory “street
style”, Holocaust proves he would be a mean Physics teacher
in any projects filled High School .
K: Kingston
One half of the Blue Sky Black Death production duo
responsible for this album.
L: Lyrics
His lyrics are often debated amongst Holo adepts and haters.
Here’s what the man himself has to say about them on this
album:
“My lyrics,
are the spirits of
mythical serial killers turned physical.
What do you think I came here to kiss you ?”
M:
Monumental
If “Smuggling booze in the Graveyard” was an artistic
translation of the bizarre elements in Holocaust’s universe,
then the BSBD production channels and celebrates the
monumental side of his rhymes.
N: Nina Simone
On “No Image” Young God and Kingston turn an already
outstanding song into a Holocaust classic by using a Nina
Simone sample. Just listen to her at the beginning going:
“But there
are no palm trees (on the street)
No palm trees, on the street,
and dishwater gives back no images”
immediately
followed by a colossal Holocaust. It’s quite remarkable how
impressive Simone’s melancholy and Holocaust’s vivid imagery
sound together, one of the (many) highlights of this album!
O:
(The) Ocean
Together with “No Image“ released as (the only) 12” of this
album, the artwork here is another great example of music
and images paired to perfection.
P:
Presents
This was the first “BSBD presents” album, later followed by
BSBD presents “Razah’s Ladder”. Let’s hope there will be
more instalments in this series in the future as both albums
took each MC’s discography to a higher level. A Killah
Priest/BSBD collaboration for instance could make this an
extraordinary “BSBD Presents”-trilogy.
Q:
Quintessential
This is a quintessential album both in BSBD and Warcloud’s
discography, even if the MC himself wasn’t satisfied with
the way the project turned out.
R:
Rat Catcher of Hamelin
Another important lyrical influence: medieval legends and
stories such as this classic tale about the rat catcher
abducting all the town’s children after not getting paid for
his services. Check “Smoking room” again, first verse.
S:
Solo
This is the only real Warcloud solo album to date as there
are absolutely no features, this is a disc filled with 100 %
Holomania.
T:
Timeless
Due to BSBD’s artistic peaking behind the boards and
Holocaust’s rhymes never using ‘here today, gone tomorrow’
subjects this will proof to be a timeless listening
experience.
U:
Underrated
Though this album is loved by many amongst the Wu believers,
mainstream hip hop fans mainly ignored this album … or
unforgivably underrated it.
V:
Video
In a fairer hip-hop universe Anton Corbijn would have made
one of his trademark black and white, crispy video clips for
the “God be with you” song making this gem a worldwide hit
and turning Holocaust into a household name all over the
globe … alas.
W:
Wukipedia
If Holocaust runs out of new aliases he might take up this
one as he likes to spice up his webs of myths, legends,
horror stories, … with trivial facts such as :
“Lords in
England produced the first police force”
“Tropical islands is some of the least crowded places on the
planet
Unless you're on Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean
Home of one hundred and twenty million red crabs”
or:
“Rod Serling wrote every 'Twilight Zone' “
… Always comes
in handy should you desire to participate in a quiz.
X: X Marks the Spot
This was a quiz and panel game that was broadcast on BBC
Radio 4 between 1998 and 2006. This has basically nothing to
do with the album nor the review but could have been a
typical Holocaust line on this album …
I challenge anyone to come up with something more fitting
and also starting with an ‘X’ .
Y:
Young God
Other half of the BSBD production team, plays multiple
instruments on their recordings.
Z:
Zillionaire
Is what I would be if I got a dime for each time I got asked
“Who ?!?” when talking about Holocaust around my part of
town.
Final conclusion:
This will always be an important Holocaust album to me
personally as this was the one that really drew me into his
universe and convinced me of his talents. The production,
though apparently the main cause of both parties no longer
being on speaking terms , is simply phenomenal . The lyrics
are so cleverly layered and fragmented that you can keep
wandering through them with each new listening session,
never getting bored as you keep getting surprised again and
again by little details, surprising jumps, cult references
and its, at first sight confusing , but really ingenious
structure (aka the Labyrinth). If you never checked this
before, you must . ASAP!
Feel free to (dis)agree.
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