Novatore – “Pale Horse of the Apocalypse” review

Yes, this is the 15th studio LP from Chicago, Illinois emcee Novatore. Breaking out as a member of the Infamous Crew, he’s also built up an impressive solo career over nearly a decade by dropping 4 EPs & an acclaimed collaborative effort with A.M. Early Morning produced by Stu Bangas called Kingdom of Criminality & it’s sequel produced by Johnny Slash. Other highlights include Louie, Louie II, Embrace the Darkness, Portrait of a Madman, Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience, Master of Morbid Creations, Living in the End Times, Alchemy & Black Magic, his Goon MuSick debut The 87 Arsonist & the Brenx-produced Agoraphobia. The last album Embrace the Darkness III became his greatest material since signing to the label & the Pale Horse of the Apocalypse now rises only 24 hours away from Mustafa Ali ending Trey Miguel’s reign as TNA International Champion.

After the “I Am Death” intro, the opener “Devil in the Flesh” finds Johnny Slash combining woodwinds with kicks & snares talking about a highly unfortunate situation with G-Mo Skee last spring whereas “Year of the Rabbit” featuring Lord Goat keeps the hardcore boom bap vibes from rollin’ thanks to C-Lance talking about time traveling 4 decades earlier. “Looking Back II” is a solid continuation of an Embrace the Darkness II highlight produced by Brenx just before “Mad Max on Acid” dismisses the nerds criticizing him when he knows his wordplay’s crazy.

“Hunt Fascists Not Antifa” gets the 2nd half going making a statement regarding the rise of fascism in the US since January of last year while “Whiplash” goes into full battle rap mode over a Young Bangas beat. “Apocalypse” featuring Blaq Poet & Nightwalker aggressively boasts their statuses within the underground while “Still Here” featuring Bullet Brak assures they ain’t leaving. After the penultimate track “Fuck You Pay Me” makes all the pussies hide, Lucid Death” wraps things up seeing his whole life flashing when the last horseman strikes over a Snowgoons instrumental.

This month will already be 2 whole years since Novatore joined the Goon MuSick roster & despite Embrace the Darkness III remaining the best thing he’s done on the label so far, Pale Horse of the Apocalypse still has it’s enjoyable moments much like The ‘87 Arsonist & Agoraphobia. A common theme across some of his recent output is that you’ll get top notch boom bap production & a cohesive concept, but some of the guests nail it with their contributions & others simply don’t do much for me whatsoever. If he were to do a solo project with either Johnny Slash or Young Bangas alongside his father Stu & have only a couple features on it, it could make for some of his best output.

Score: 3.5/5

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Novatore – “The 87 Arsonist” review

Chicago, Illinois emcee Novatore is back with the 12th solo LP in his catalog. Emerging as a member of the Infamous Crew, he’s also built up an impressive solo career over nearly a decade by dropping 4 EPs & an acclaimed collaborative effort with A.M. Early Morning produced by Stu Bangas called Kingdom of Criminality on top of all the previous LPs that he’s dropped along the way. Other highlights include Louie, Louie II, Embrace the Darkness, Portrait of a Madman, Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience, Master of Morbid Creations & Living in the End Times. He just put out Alchemy & Black Magic last summer & is returning to make his Goon MuSick debut as The 87 Arsonist.

After the “Ronald Bartel” intro, the first song “Flammable Material” is a grimy boom bap opener produced by C-Lance talking about feeling like he’s showing off every single time he’s writing whereas “Backdraft” featuring Lord Goat finds the 2 over a coldblooded instrumental with kicks & snares as they look to burn everyone lyrically. “Point of Origin: The Biography of John Leonard Orr” portrays the life of the titular serial arsonist & mass murder on his 75th birthday coincidentally with the help of Stu Bangas, but then “Pyromaniacs” featuring Celph Titled hops on top of a piano/boom bap crossover talking about their names raising to the top.

“All Consuming” featuring Daniel Son finds the 2 on their battle shit over some more keys, kicks & snares from Johnny Slash just before “Burning Monk” by Azthmatix begins with some jazzy horns & a vocal sample talking about feeling like a monk lighting himself on fire tackling the theme of self-destruction. The song “Waking Up to the Fire” is an operatic boom bap cut about his rhymes being conceived in his sleep leading into “Incendiary Device” featuring A.M. Early Morning recapturing the magic of their collab effort from a couple years ago. “Sent from Hell” featuring Benny Holiday ends on an atmospherically dusty note thanks to the Snowgoons burning hoes naked.

It’s been amazing to watch this guy gradually getting better over the last 3 years & his Goon MuSick debut here as I expected stands as yet another fiery entry in Novatore’s discography. The traditional boom bap production dominant throughout his entire catalog continues to only get consistently stronger by each year, it has a one of the more consistent list of guest MCs that match his caliber of lyricism portraying himself as an arsonist for about 27 minutes.

Score: 4/5

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Novatore – “Alchemy & Black Magic” review

This is the 11th full-length album from Chicago, Illinois emcee Novatore. Emerging as a member of the Infamous Crew, he’s also built up an impressive solo career since 2015 by dropping 4 EPs & a collaborative effort with A.M. Early Morning called Kingdom of Criminality on top of the all the previous LPs that he’s dropped along the way. But coming off Living in the End Times only 9 months backs on Veteran’s Day, the Chi-Town lyricist is now cooking up Alchemy & Black Magic.

After the “Immortal in Memory” intro, the first song “Rewind” featuring RJ Payne is a gully boom bap opener produced by C-Lance with both wordsmith’s talking about trying to figure this shit whereas “Horses of Instruction” keeps it dusty sonically to point out that he’s been a menace for nearly a decade already. “Suicide Choir” featuring both Ill Bill & Lord Goat of Non Phixion finds the trio over a sample-based boom bap instrumental delivering lyrical annihilation, but then “Death to the False” scathingly attacks every fraudulent person out here.

“Black Magic” gives off an uncanny boom bap atmosphere courtesy of Young Bangas discussing how much he’s elevated from the basement since he started out that is until Lord Goat returns on “Self Destruct” alongside A.M. Early Morning ruggedly talking about sending their goons up to your crib. “Dark World 2023” featuring JakProgresso is essentially a remake of a joint he did 5 years back showing the evolution of his craft just before “The Last Illusion” comes through with a delightful horrorcore/boom bap hybrid that Johnny Slash cooked up.

Moving on to the last couple 6 & a half minutes of the album, “Blood Brothers” featuring Novatore’s brother G-Pap showcases a back-&-forth chemistry between both siblings over a mobster-esque loop as well as kicks & snares declaring that the Infamous has hopefully been reawaken/reunited leading into “Spell Caster” featuring 20 Elbridge tying it all up in the form of both MCs on top of a mystically raw beat comparing themselves to sorcerers with their pens.

I maintain that Novatore’s been continuously outdoing himself in recent memory with each album he delivers, yet Alchemy & Black Magic is the guy’s most consistent solo effort since Embrace the Darkness II: Explorers of Experience couple years ago. The traditional production style & gritty lyricism we’ve come to know him for make their way onto here except the performances from the guests are a lot stronger personally.

Score: 4/5

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