I don't really listen to much hip-hop but this is certainly a very interesting album. The heavy beats and harsh noise give this album a very dark, intense and grinding feel, sometimes giving off a vibe similar to that of Swans' 80's material. The producer manages to stitch together harsh sounds and political samples into a dense claustrophobic wall of noise, it makes you feel that you are part of a Saw film, trapped in one of Jigsaw's terrifying 'games'. MC Dalek certainly does sound pissed off, he spits his words with anger and conviction and keeps his rhymes flowing perfectly. His voice sits perfectly on top of the dark, dense wall of noise and heavy beats and adds to the doomed feel of the music.
So far for me the standout songs are the opener 'Distorted Prose' and the third song 'Culture For Dollars'. The former starts off the album with a dark, twisted vibe from the off, the alternation between rapping and grinding noise is really well done, the latter is probably the most accessible and memorable song on the album. There are plenty of other great moments as well throughout the course of the album.
One of the weaknesses of the album is probably that a few of the songs, especially near the end, seem to drag on for just a bit too long. Maybe it's because I'm not quite familiar with the album yet or because I don't really listen to much hip-hop but things do get a bit repetitive and monotonous closer to the end. I suppose this album will put off a lot of regular hip-hop fans as well due to it's experimentalism. I've read somewhere before that the fans that go to their shows are nearly all white and not your usual hip-hop crowd, at least in the UK anyway, not sure what the story is in the US.
I probably won't be listening to this album as regularly as other stuff I listen to but I will certainly give it a spin whenever I'm in the right mood. I might even check out the other albums.
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