Lørd Skø – “United Palace” review

This is the sophomore full-length LP from New York up-&-comer Lørd Skø. Getting his start in the fall of 2020 off his debut EP 13th Angel, his profile would grow from there eventually hiring one of the greatest A&Rs in the industry Dante Ross as his manager & showing the world of what he’s capable of doing last summer when he put out his debut album Museum. Now that fall started a week ago, Skø’s looking to take everyone through the United Palace.

“Headcrack” is a triumphant opener cautioning to cut the attitude since he’s been the man in his section whereas “Kush & OJ” takes a jazzier approach thanks to Graymatter admitting that he’s been falling back in his old ways as of late. “Yellow Tape” works in some kicks, snares & a whimsical loop wanting his flowers by the time the sun rises in the morning just before the horn-inflicted “Riddles in the Sand” talks about catching him at east 80 degrees next destination.

Da$h joins Skø on the drumless “St. Nicholas” getting in their hardcore bag lyrically leading into the soulful “Finder’s Fee” talking about defying the odds & being able to do the impossible not once but twice. “Enterprise” continues to chop up some soul samples comparing his raps to that of watching the greatest quarterback of all-time & 7-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady playing, but then “Mescaline Leaves” featuring Meyhem Lauren finds the 2 over more dusty boom bap production from Statik Selektah making reference to former former 2-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion, FTW Champion, ECW World Television Champion, 3 time ECW World Tag Team Champion, JCW World Juggalo Heavyweight Champion, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, IWGPジュニアヘビー級チャンピオン & the longest reigning XPW World Heavyweight Champion Sabu.

“James Worthy Goggles” has a heavy woodwind groove to it referencing former 14-time WWE world champion, WWE Hall of Famer, 5-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE tag team champion & the WME Group-owned TKO Group Holdings division’s CCO Triple H while “500” makes a 180° from the trap beat to the flow-change so he can swerve a hoe who wanted to fuck & get paid. “Malice at the Palace” has a funk/boom bap quality to it telling y’all to catch him with a bitch that looks like Richard Pryor’s wife while “G.W.B. (Good Weed Burning) featuring Wiseboy Jeremy sees the duo jumping on top of a classy instrumental talking about actually smiling the next time they snatch chains.

The song “Firestarter” featuring LIFEOFTHOM returns to a soulful-inspired direction talking about being harder than arsenic & setting fire to their dreams before starting them but after the Kurious interlude, “Pimp Socks” closes out Skø’s sophomore effort on a bluesy boom bap note saying that he doesn’t even feel like these are the golden years of his career which is true considering the insane potential Museum showed & how much he’s grown in the last year.

With that being said: United Palace continues to elevate Lørd Skø to prominence within the underground because this album right here is stronger than the one he introduced us with the previous summer. Even though the feature list is more consistent, he most importantly delivers a thorough expression of classic & modern New York culture all from his perspective. Between this & Museum, it’s only the beginning.

Score: 4/5

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Rome Streetz – “Noise Kandy 5” review

This is the 8th mixtape from New York lyricist Rome Streetz. Emerging in 2016 off his debut mixtape I Been Thru Mad Shit, this was followed up by a plethora of projects with the most notable being the Noise Kandy tetralogy & Headcrack. These past couple years however we’re probably his biggest ones yet, as he dropped some of the best work of his career from the DJ Muggs-produced Death & the Magician or the Futurewave-produced Razor’s Edgeto the Ransom-assisted collab effort Coup de Grâce& the Griselda Records deal that followed. His debut with the Buffalo powerhouse Kiss the Ring came in at the #9 spot on my Best Albums of 2022 list & coming off the Big Ghost Ltd.-produced Wasn’t Built in a Day, Rome’s now looking to close out the Noise Kandy series.

“2nd Seizure” starts the finale with a haunting loop boasting that no one’s as slick as him whereas “Hell Backwards” goes into cavernous boom bap territory thanks to Wavy da Ghawd talking about having fire in his eye & the pistol right by him. “Clutchin’” goes for an eerier atmosphere keeping the kicks & snares in tact making it known his lifestyle still illegal, but then “Stunna” featuring Boldy James & Double D finds the trio over a groovy Denny LaFlare beat talking about only recognizing dollar signs.

Meanwhile, “Chrome Magnum” flexed that he’s still eating dinner off the same plate he was bagging over an uncanny Conductor Williams instrumental just before the sample-based “Go Raw” produced by Sovren talks about being a born leader until the death of him. “Accurate” featuring Curren$y returns to the boom bap accompanied by Evidence behind the boards discussing their lives as they know it leading into “Fire At Ya Idle Mind” featuring Joey Bada$$ proves they have no time for lack of progress or engagement backed by more dusty production.

“Pocket Full of Beans” dives into trap turf a bit this time around talking his shit kicking up his flow a bit while Sadhugold brings a drumless, jazzy vibe to “Black Magic” seeking to do motherfuckers as if he never even knew them from the start. “Shake & Bake” continues to pull inspiration from jazz music instrumentally talking about being on the road to gold all gas no brakes while the symphonic “Fastactionvenom” featuring Rigz as they shine the brightest in the dark. The keyboard-driven penultimate track “Heart Break Hotel” talking about selling hoes Molly out the metaphorical location & “Procall” rounds out the Noise Kandy saga by hoping over a shimmery boom bap beat justifiably declaring that the product is potent & popular.

The Noise Kandy series contains amongst Rome’s most prolific cuts like “Hot Pistol Heart Frozen” or “World in My Palm” & “My Destiny”, so it makes sense for him to round out the iconic mixtape series much like Westside Gunn did on Hitler Wears Hermes X last fall. Couldn’t have ended it better. Futurewave’s engineering is remarkable, Rome’s articulate pen-game never fails & almost all the guests match his caliber.

Score: 4/5

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Alecs DeLarge – “Alecs in Wonderland” review

Bristol, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Alecs DeLarge signing to High Focus Records for a brand new extended play of solo material. Somebody who’s spent the last several years dropping a plethora of beat tapes from Earth Seeds to S950 Bumps as well as Astro Livin’ & Bubble Goose Loops. He recently got with King Kashmere producing The Album to End All Alien Abductions in its entirety over the summer, stepping up to the mic for Alecs in Wonderland getting a chance to shine in the spotlight lyrically.

After the “$50M” intro, the first song “Scooby Snax” begins with a psychedelic self-produced opener talking about being more iconic than Cam’ron in the pink mink coat whereas & still being broke whereas “Green Goblin” takes the boom bap route instrumentally crumblin’ planets into spliffs. “Attaman!” goes for a drumless vibe talking about sending wack MCs out in space while the jazzy single “AM to AM” speaks of getting lifted 24 hours a day.

“Wonderland” continues to strip the drums talking about others suggesting he’s living the dream when he’s doing shows for drinks & some food leading into the funky “Megabus Dreams” featuring King Kashmere marking my favorite collaboration of the 2 looking at both sides of fame. “Empty Pocket Posse” featuring HPBLK hypnotically talks about both of them being poor & after the “Magic Scones” skit, “Muscle Head” drumlessly denies the possibility of slipping on an open trap ever happening.

The soulfully funky “Girl Joint” single starts Alecs in Wonderland’s final moments talking about the MPC 2000 while “Timbos x Pathfinders” jazzily finds himself seeing nothing’s changed around the block of flats that made him who he is since all the same people are there. “Far Out, Far Man” after the “Mushroom Hill” skit ends the EP taking a more melodic approach in terms of delivery singing for this woman to join him for the ride they’re gonna embark on right beside each other.

Heavily inspired by the Quasimoto alter-ego of one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib, the inaugural solo project in Alecs DeLarge’s career excluding all of his compositional tapes creates his own utopia to escape the one outside his council flat window idyllic living in Lynchian reality when he was exiled to a forgotten mining village. His production during Alecs in Wonderland’s course feels a lot stronger than that earlier instrumental output & he gets a couple of guests to join him in dissecting a lonely man’s soul.

Score: 3.5/5

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Armand Hammer – “We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” review

This is the 6th full-length LP from New York underground duo Armand Hammer. Consisting of Billy Woods & Elucid, they formed together a decade ago already off their only mixtape Half Measures & the debut album Race Music. The pair would go on to release an EP & 4 more albums worth of abstract political hip hop, with the last one Haram fully produced by The Alchemist becoming the most critically acclaimed within their discography. But after signing to Fat Possum Records recently, these guys are commemorating a decade as a unit in the form of We Buy Diabetic Test Strips.

“Landlines” starts off Armand Hammer’s debut with Fat Possum with JPEGMAFIA behind the boards sampling “No Sleep Tonight” by Mýa clarifying that life’s basically tomorrow’s breakfast & they’re doing ok whereas “Woke Up & Asked Siri How I’m Gonna Die” works in elements of cloud rap as well as wonky & vaportrap talking about not seeing the bottom yet. “The Flexible Unreliability of Time & Memory” goes for a more stripped back sound thanks to Child Actor refusing to believe that certainty is a circle leading into “When It Doesn’t Start With a Kiss” brings Peggy back on the boards yet again delivering a tropical boom bap 2-parter asking how it feels.

Cavalier joins billy & Elucid on “Keep a Mirror in My Pocket” to tell those who don’t know their place to get up out of their grills over some heavy vibraphones & horns from Preservation & one of my favorite Elucid lines on the entire album “I like Forrest Whitaker, Triple X my signature” just before the lead single “Trauma Mic” featuring Pink Siifu is an industrial, noise rock crossover cooked up by DJ Haram airing out all motherfuckers who don’t keep they word. “N****rdly (Blocked Call)” gives off a cavernous boom bap edge to the beat thanks to August Fanon pumping ketamine through their hearts, but then “The Gods Must Be Crazy”gets a glimpse of El-P mixing elements of glitch hop & noise rap talking about money being no good here.

“Y’all Can’t Stand Right Here” featuring Junglepussy & Moneynicca finds Messiah Musikstripping the drums with co-production from Steel Tipped Dove encouraging y’all to follow the flow paying homage to the late great MF DOOM flipping a line from “Rhymes Like Dimes” while “Total Recall” weaves some woodwinds, kicks & snares into the fold courtesy of Kenny Segal referencing “Nuclear War” by jazz visionary Sun Ra on the hook & billy woods saying there ain’t no father to his style like the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard himself. Junglepussy returns with Curly Castro for “Empire BLVD” as Willie Green whips up a ghostly boom bap groove telling y’all to watch them go down prior to Black Noi$e giving “Don’t Lose Your Job” featuring Moor Mother & Pink Siifu a mellower sonic approach talking about gas being as high as it is. billy though comes out swinging by saying “Break up weed on one phone, FaceTime on the other. Break up with me? I’m a G, I stay friends with your mother.”

The song “Supermooned” is a piano-trap hybrid that Elucid himself produced alongside DJ Haram asking if it’s ok or if it’s over while the penultimate track “Switchboard” talking about knowing that something’s coming even though they can’t see it yet over a trippy Sebb Bash instrumental. On the other hand, “The Key’s Under the Mat” closes out Armand Hammer’s official Fat Possum debut by enlisting JPEGMAFIA back on the beats once more except this one’s probably the darkest of his batch talking about how that security deposit ain’t comin’ back after all.

Despite still highly recommending Haram for anyone that isn’t caught up on these guys’ discography yet, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips legitimately happens to be a spiritual successor to Shrines & one that I find myself leaning more towards in comparison to the predecessor. billy & Elucid both examine the way people are navigating through this collapsing system with the production being cohesively gritty yet denser than some of their previous material.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mickey Diamond – “Capital Gains” review

Detroit, Michigan emcee Mickey Diamond linking up with Camoflauge Monk for his 9th studio LP. A member of the Umbrella collective, he emerged at the beginning of 2020 off the strength of his debut EP Bangkok Dangerous & has since gone on to turn quite a few heads in the underground by building up the impressive discography for himself with his previous 8 albums alongside 7 EPs & a mixtape. Gucci Ghost & its sequel produced by Big Ghost Ltd. on top of Ral Duke producing Oroku Saki in its entirety all became his strongest bodies of work to date. Couple months after the Sadhugold-produced Death Threat$, he’s looking to make Capital Gains.

“Nobody Moves” sets it off with this boom bap intro talking about nothing moving around his parts other than the money while the title track samples the remix of “Sleep for Dinner” by the Lords of the Underground boasting everyone knowing their names now referencing Key & Peele on the Paramount Skydance Corporation-owned Comedy Central. “Current Events” featuring Jamil Honesty finds the pair flippin’ through scriptures to get their minds right whereas “Nike Checks & New Balances” featuring Cise Greeny breaks down everything that makes their cypher complete referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former 6-time WWE world champion & WWE Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage.

Big Trip gets his own solo cut with “Carbones” encouraging y’all to walk with him to new horizons on top of his time & heart both being cold for no reason at all just before “Army Jacker Lining” featuring Substance810 discusses their game being amazingly skilled including a reference to former WWE writer, WCW booker, TNA Wrestling booker & WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vince Russo. “Anything to Get to the Doe” talks doing anything he can in order for him to make some paper, but then “Cross the Line” featuring The Steiner Brothers finds the trio dismantling their competition.

“Tats on My Belly” by Mvck Nyce is a lot like “Carbones” in that Mickey Diamond doesn’t appear on the track at all making way for another member of the Umbrella collective to show off his lyrical abilities talking about the recklessness of his whole entire style & the closing track “Stocks x Bonds” finishes Capital Gains by talking about now being his time to shine when he’s actually been doing so ever since last winter along with a bar on top of hitting heavier than Tyson Fury.

Capital Gains has now joined it’s predecessor from a couple months ago Death Threat$ in addition to Oroku Saki & both Gucci Ghost albums in continuing Mickey’s dominance of the underground by dropping off his 5th classic over a week after the fall season began. Camoflauge Monk’s production maintains the boom bap edge of Death Threat$ except he swaps out the drumless undertones of the latter in favor of jazz rap & Diamond enlists his Umbrella brethren to lay out commanding gangsta-themed lyrics rather than not having any guests last time.

Score: 4.5/5

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Maxo – “Debbie’s Son” review

This is the sophomore full-length LP from Los Angeles emcee Maxo. Emerging in 2015 off his debut EP After Hours, his profile would continuously grow following his next couple EPs Smile & most notably Lil Big Man to the point where Def Jam Recordings backed his debut Even God Has a Sense of Humor this past spring. Now that his 1-album major label deal is finished, Maxo is looking to introduce everyone to Debbie’s Son.

After the “Juanita” intro, the first song “Playdis!” featuring ZelooperZ is a cloudy opener to the album encouraging y’all to let this shit bump your speakers whereas “2 for $10” has to be one of my favorite on the LP from the groovy Beat Butcha instrumental to the lyrics feeling closer to his grave than anything else. Following that, “Another LAnd” proves to be another highlight as The Alchemist brings in an orchestral vibe to the instrumental asking to speak for a moment leading into “What Are You Looking For?” incorporates some bare drums to get on some spiritual shit.

“#3” shoots for a tropical atmosphere musically calling out someone who felt like they were too good for him just before another standout “Eyes on Me” produced by Uncle Al fuses jazz rap with contemporary R&B sometimes wishing the woman in his life had her eyes on him. The moody title track looks to take every piece of him & rearrange it while the groovy “Boomerang” talks about spitting like all he has is his word. “F.W.M. (Fuck with Me)” ends the LP by lusciously airing out why people fuck with him.

Maxo to me yet to drop an LP on the same caliber as Lil Big Man & considering that a few of the best songs he’s ever made reveal themselves here, it makes me more than hopeful of that in the future. We still get the jazzy abstract west coast hip hop from his major label-backed debut, but more contemporary R&B & lo-fi undertones in comparison.

Score: 3.5/5

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EARTHGANG – “EARTHGANG vs. the Algorithm: R.I.P. Human Art” review

The EARTHGANG are a duo from Atlanta, Georgia consisting of Olu & WowGr8. Starting out a little over a decade ago dropping 3 mixtapes along with 2 albums & an EP independently, this resulted in J. Cole signing them to his Interscope Records imprint Dreamville Records in 2017. This resulted in a trilogy of EPs leading up to their major label debut Mirrorland, which revealed themselves to be one of the best artists that the label has to offer. They went on to give their Spillage Village collective some shine by dropping their 4th album Spilligion on Dreamville the next year & Ghetto Gods further cemented them as the 2nd best signing on the roster behind J.I.D of course. But in light of severing ties with Interscope & staying on Dreamville solely, Dr. Dot & Johnny Venus are celebrating by releasing their 5th EP.

“The Wake” intro sets things off where things musically have a bit of Frank Ocean influence to it calling to let all their homies free whereas “Die Today” asks if you’d come & kiss my cold or run up in my bank account if something were to happen to them over a pop rap/contemporary R&B crossover produced by Olu that’s actually better than half of what was on Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy’s final album The Love Album: Off the Grid. “Flavors of Karma” is an organ/boom bap hybrid talking about karma coming in different flavors & not telling you what it feels like that is until the cloudy “Imagine” talks about having paradise at their fingertips. “Bobby Boucher” featuring Benji is a groovy southern pop rap closer reuniting with their vices.

These guys are truthfully my 2nd favorite act on Dreamville behind J.I.D other than Cole of course & here we have the first in a trilogy of EPs after no longer being distributed by Interscope makes me anticipate that they’re gonna have more creative freedom down the line now that they’re still with Dreamville Records & don’t have to worry about major label bullshit. The southern hip hop production also draws from cloud rap as well as boom bap & alternative/contemporary R&B with the EARTHGANG themselves feeling as if a weight’s off their chest delivery-wise.

Score: 3.5/5

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Ouija Macc & Trizz – “Coronella” review

This is a brand new collaborative album between west coast hip hop artists Ouija Macc & Trizz. The latter hailing from Los Angeles as a Brotha Lunch Hung protégé briefly signing to Madesicc Muziccwith the other taking the underground wicked shit scene by storm since signing to Psychopathic Records in 2017 & forming his own subsidiary of the Insane Clown Posse’s label that runs beneath the streets Chapter 17 Records over 2 years ago. Both of whom have crossed paths with each other a couple times in the past even though they’ve already made a name for themselves with stellar albums like Stalewind or Baseline Cavi. But with Ouija coming fresh off the 3-Headed Monster’s sophomore effort Rampage last week, he & Trizz are teaming up to make Coronella quite possibly the best collab project in his whole discography ahead of his upcoming 4th solo LP Darcc Planet.

The intro sets it off with an uncanny trap instrumental talking about they been down before & remain 10 toes down in spite of it all whereas “Pedigree” works in some horns & hi-hats declaring this to be a robbery with their destiny being the death of them. “Dead Presidents” gives off a murkier atmosphere acknowledging all these bitches want & Ouija taking a shot at Donald Trump just before the cloudy trap banger “Round the Way” talking about you waiting in Hell for them referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former 3-time WWE Champion, 11-time WWE tag team champion, the inaugural WWE Hardcore Champion, CWA World Tag Team Champion & TNA World Champion Mick Foley.

“Smoke Dope” gives off a nocturnal edge to the beat of course providing an anthem for all the smokers out there leading into the cavernous “International” produced by Devereaux talking about both of them being known on a global scale at this point in their careers. “Vegan Caviar” works in these rattling hi-hats promising to fuck you up, but then “Outcast” is a spacious boom bap ballad dedicated to everyone out there listening who’s been rejected by society.

Golden BSP on “Spokes” is ok despite the eerie trap production along with the subject matter of how this shit’s a game & they’re getting paid about it instead of playing about it while the cloudy “Black Card” calling out those who be frontin’ that they hard when we all know they’re not whatsoever. Brotha Lynch Hung gives one of the best feature performances throughout “The Opera” solemnly declaring that the homies will deal with any problem while “Too Many” has more of a traditional west coast sound to it talking about being surrounded by more than enough of the wrong people.

The song “Terror” featuring HEXXX mixes trap with g-funk sampling “High Powered” by RBX reminding everyone of their gangsta backgrounds & C17’s first signing spitting as hard as Brotha Lynch did a couple joints ago the penultimate track “Spiral” featuring Ricky Hil gives off an airier tone instrumental with smoking weed & drinking tequila being what they’re about. To finish Coronella, former Strange Music in-house producer MIKE SUMMERS a.k.a. 7 cooks up the psychedelic closer “I’m Outside” admitting they’re feeling like losing their minds.

2 & a half years ago by now when Ouija Macc teamed up with Baby E on We Never Forgot, it quickly became my favorite collaborative project that the hatchet’s biggest solo act had ever done even though it was a new sound for him. That being said: Ouija & Trizz have just dethroned that tape in favor of Coronella as his best collab effort & Trizz’ too. The guests are 50/50, but both MCs help bring the best out of one another as far as chemistry goes & the production is more eclectic from trap to boom bap & g-funk.

Score: 4.5/5

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Joey Cool – “Enjoy the View” review

Joey Cool is a 38 year old MC from Kansas City, Missouri starting out as a long-time affiliate of local independent hip hop powerhouse Strange Music dropping a total of 4 mixtapes & a studio album on his own until Tech N9ne decided to officially sign him to the Snake & Bat in 2017. He then dropped an eponymous sophomore album the next spring followed by Old Habits Die Hard as well as Coolie High & I Tried to Be Normal Once. But with the 1-year anniversary of The Chairman of the Boardpassing by a couple months ago, Joey’s beginning the fall by enlisting Mario Casalini to fully produced his 7th album.

After the “It’s Rare” intro, the first song “Oh God” is a gospel trap crossover to start off the album declaring that he is who he is & that he will help teach you what to say on your journey whereas “Kingdom” featuring Tech N9ne is a more rap rock infused cut calling out those trying to bring their paradises down. “Kansas City Classic” shoots for a more playful vibe aesthetically talking about continuing to drop exactly that in you bastards leading into “Flickin’” giving off a bit of a west coast feel sonically reminding that he isn’t going anywhere.

“Sweet” featuring Lex Bratcher starts off with a wavy trap sound prior to a triumphant beat-switch during the 2nd half both being at a level that’s not near, but then “At My Expense” takes a groovier approach refusing to the back & forth tonight. After the “Please Tip Your Ushers” interlude, “Hallelujer” goes full blown gospel rap telling you to ask anyone if he’s been that dude just before “Closer Now” featuring K.A.A.N. & King Iso talks about how they was all supposed to drown there over a moody instrumental.

Meanwhile, “Sink” blends some keys & hi-hats tackling the concept of depression even further while “I Bet” featuring Wennely Quezada comes through with more of a pop rap duet accompanied by an spacious beat explaining that they just can’t go down the river. “Peanut Butter Jealous” featuring X-Raided pointing out how no one wanted flicks with him now that they’re well established with a bouncy trap instrumental while the lead single “Great Time”drops off a club banger for the 1-time.

“Buckets” gives off an eerie tone to the beat feeling like he’s on today while spirit-lifting “We Got Us” talks about how his mom told him there would we be days like this & that all his family as his each other specifically with his father Bill Johnson being featured on here as he’s been in the past. The penultimate track “Buddy Effyn” hops on top of a pitched sample explaining that too many tried to shade or change him & “American Swankster” closes out the album on a jazzier note declaring himself to be just that.

Now the deluxe has 8 bonus tracks & I’ll touch base on them. The first of which “Swank You Very Much” is this empowering trap rock cut talking about knowing that his mother is proud of him while “Big Cool” looks to add another title over more guitars & hi-hats. “Give ‘Em Hell” has this cool gospel flip throughout telling everyone to stop talking to him like it’s 2012 while “Oxygen” featuring Jehry Robinson gives off a peppier trap tone advising to get back.

“Chai Tea” featuring Lex Bratcher goes into a futuristic direction talking about being off the titular mixed-spice tea while the piano-driven “Don’t Cry” featuring Mac Lethal talks about not shedding tears for them. The “Kingdom” remix adds 2 new verses from King Iso & High Deafinician of the unConventionAl KingZ that make it better than the original & “Do-Over” ends the deluxe by having Matt Phoenix help Joey go full-on rock down to the Swankiest of Strangeland flexing his singing voice predominantly.

Self-titled & Old Habits Die Hard are my personal favorite albums in Joey’s catalog, but Enjoy the View has to be my favorite that he’s done in a while in my opinion. Mario Casalini’s production gives off a different vibe of its own & the American Swankster himself happens to be the most emphatic he’s ever previously as far his performances go. Couple underwhelming features too, but it should be noted that most of them stick the landing.

Score: 4/5

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Crossworm – “ANTI” review

Crossworm is a 42 year old recording artist & producer from Grand Rapids, Michigan starting as 1/2 of 2Korpse before branching out on his own for the full-length solo debut Phoenix. This was followed up by a sophomore LP Ready to Burn alongside 2 EPs Mouth Full of Dirt & jaws: Deciduous respectively. Crossworm took a few years off after the latter only to return in the summer of 2014 by dropping 4 more albums: Parasite Avenue, Drowning in Restricting Thought, Finding X & Eat the Weak. Coming off his 3rd EP Gōst this past spring, that was all building up to the 7th LP in the Dirtcore Music founder’s discography & the 10th solo effort overall if you include all 3 EPs that I previously mentioned.

After the “Play” intro, the first song “Finally Alive Again” opens the album by setting the tone for it singing over synthesizers that he took a lesson from the brave whereas “Everything Changed” delves further into synth-pop territory singing that he needs his significant other here with him. “It’s Unheard Of” gives me a bit of an industrial vibe continuing to sing that he doesn’t know how it all came to him just before the quasi-funky “Candy” talks about trying to find something sweeter.

“Your Misery” points out that there’s no one out here in the street other than you & him over another synth-pop beat leading into “Get Out of Here” by Bodies Below Sea Level talking about finding themselves in these long waters they’re treading accompanied by an electro-pop instrumental. “Slovenly” makes it clear people tried to turn him at the stake again & he barely made it out alive with some rock undertones musically, but then “Burn” featuring Oblivia bringing back the funk a little covering The Cure joint of the same name.

The penultimate track “Protogeist” shoots for a spacier approach to the beat admitting that he’s on the fence of someone he used to be & someone that he’s actually never been in the past prior to “Feel” featuring Good Spells rounding out the LP on a cloudier note talking about feeling this woman whenever he breathes & knowing from when he sees it that them being a couple wasn’t meant to be.

This dude has always displayed his versatility over these past couple decades & for ANTI, he makes a stylistic departure from the horrorcore sound that he came up on in favor of drawing inspiration from synthpop music. His singing is reminiscent to that of the late LINKIN PARK frontman Chester Bennington & the production he cooks up is more reminiscent to that of Depeche Mode.

Score: 4/5

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