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REVIEW:
Overall Rating:
  
Lyrics:
Beats:
Written By:
The Reccollectah
Warghosts aka Bomshot and
Holocaust … not what one would call mainstream artists or
controversy free mc’s . In fact it’s safer to say that these
two are amongst the most heavily discussed underground mc’s
out there nowadays. Both are also the “love ‘em or hate em “
type of cats. Check any rap forum where these two are
discussed and you get an extremely varied range of
viewpoints about their styles . Bomshot comments go from
“being the shit” to “being shit” while Holocaust is puked
out by some as “an offbeat nutcase” and heralded as “the
most underrated genius behind the mic ever” by others …
Needless to say that when two artists like that team up to
form a group, their debut will also spark up some heavy pro
and anti discussions on internetville. Need proof ? Cough, I
quote : “These fuckers are both possibly the worst in the
game right now, and now they came together and formed a
group!? you gotta be fucking with me... Horrible flows, even
worse lyrics. Their mothers should have held these lames
heads under the bathtub water when they were growing up.” (
file under “not that impressed by the album”) as opposed to
: “This album is fantastic. I had goosebumps when I first
heard some songs.” (file under “Hooked for life”) Also
Holocaust’s contributions here result (business as usual) in
very opposite reactions: “sorry, I can't stand Holocaust. I
appreciate he's bringing a different style but it’s
downright unlistenable” as opposed to “Holocaust is a Wu
legend. His style is so tight u suckaz can't comprehend the
skills.”
So is this group, it’s line-up and it’s debut worth all this
fuss ? And who is right ??
After listening to the Warghosts album again and again last
weeks several conclusions came to mind:
1. You’ll really have to listen for yourself to see what you
get out of this: some will indeed love it , others will ask
for a refund. If you want to know what this is like : Don’t
read reviews ( … yeah, I know: “Why write one then ?” ) but
check this out yourself and give it at least a few spins
before you make up your mind.
2. If you never heard a Holocaust album before, I recommend
you try to get to know his other work first before you tap
into this. Try his collabo album with Blue Sky Black Death
first as the music on there is very accessible and downright
brilliant. Then move onto his legendary Warcloud solos
“Nightmares resurface” and “Smuggling booze” to get used to
him on more underground beats (especially the amazing
Skarekrow productions !!! ) Then have a go at this one. It
might go down easier then.
3. The mc’s : If you never liked Bomshot before … you
probably won’t change your mind after hearing this.
On several tracks he has trouble finding the pace of the
track. Check first track “Sound of mystery” where he
sometimes has to rush to get his line done and slows down or
pauses another one to pick up the beat again. This reoccurs
here and there through other songs too. Plus subject wise he
pales when compared to Holocaust’s verses. When Bomshot goes
horrorcore it sounds more like a style he chooses. When
Holocaust goes into the booth describing his gothic scenes ,
you immediately feel the difference: he sounds like he’s
tapped into another universe. When Holo rhymes about lakes,
skeletons, forests, dungeons, tombstones and all his other
favorite subjects he means every single word. This man
sounds like he lives this shit ! To get an idea of what I
mean : Take Clive Barker’s horror feel, Bukowski’s mad
poetry (*) and Tolkien’s fantasy world . Put all 3 in a
blender , mix it and inject it into a rapper who doesn’t
care if he’s on the beat or not and you’ll get an idea of
what to expect. Not everyone’s cup of tea but a unique brand
for sure !!!
(*) Charles Bukowski aka one of the original American Poets
…
4. Musicwise then : you’ll have a hard case on this one if
you’re looking for smooth beats or mainstream hiphop you can
digest instantly . But then again , you wouldn’t even be
reading this, would you ? If you want an underground,
cinematic and apocalyptic sound to hit your ears … sit back
and enjoy.
Production jumps from Wu-underground Fam names like Krohme,
Semantix tha Sorcera and Amos the Ancient Prophet to more
unknown newcomers to the game. Special mention here goes to
Imperial Skillz Empera aka Imbrator, a German/Morrocon
producer who’s been slowly building up his skillz and credit
over the years in the horrorcore scene resulting in two off
the dopest tracks on this album: “In The Hills Of The Dark
Land Tragic” and “Chase The Dragon”. Other
musical highlights are “Chinese Fire Arrow” ( by Semantix) ,
“Corinthians” and “Arctic warrior” (both by Amos) while
“It’s not yours” ( by Pablobaluba) comes closest to a
regular Wu type of beat.
5. This is a rather short album: only 10 tracks, even
including an old Jedi Mind Tricks diss track ( and a rather
poor one, adding nothing to this album). Haters will sigh
with relief they only have to go through 10 tracks. Fans
will be left disappointed, expecting more than just 9 tracks
and a filler diss track.
Final conclusion :
After hearing this haters will still hate this while
Holocaust adepts will spend a lot of time with this album in
2010. Which camp you belong to is something you’ll have to
decide for yourself. Pros in my opinion are Holocaust’s
vivid images laced throughout this collaboration and some
very surprising music here and there. Cons : Bomshot ‘s flow
and timing is a bit off now and then and some of his verses
are rather poor, the short tracklist and some filler tracks
( especially the JMT diss).
Feel free to (dis)agree.
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