Dirtcore Music – “Overkill” review

This is the 2nd showcase compilation from Grand Rapids, Michigan independent record label Dirtcore Music founded by local rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Crossworm. The latter of whom was sole artist officially signed for its first 2 decades of existence until bringing Samson Samson whom he formed Bodies Below Sea Level with, Madd Maxxx, Mumm Ra, Sleep Lyrical, J Reno whom he formed Misery Coast with & Grounds all on board. Others such as Gavyn Gunn & Oblivia have spent a brief amount of time signed to Dirtcore with Gavyn’s debut EP Malevolent being a great start to his ongoing trilogy, celebrating Devil’s Night with Overkill.

Crossworm eerily starts with a self-produced intro “Halloween Sucks” talking about him spraying mace at anyone who knocks on his door whereas “The Veil” by J Reno takes the trap route instrumentally discussing the boundary between life & death. “Mask On” by Sleep Lyrical shows a bit of a Memphis influence being in the kitchen with evil eyes every Halloween while “Agree to Disappear” by Madd Maxxx speaks to his therapist on wax.

“CR4V3 M3” by Samson Samson embraces a funky industrial direction talking about a woman who’s yearning for him just before “The Old Man” by J Reno returns to the boom bap vividly describes a house usually skipped during trick-or-treating being the only 1 in town this year. “The Warning” by Mumm Ra aggressively asks if anyone wants smoke with him because he ain’t got shit to lost leading into “The Dead Can’t Die” by Crossworm industrially talking about the undead being immortal.

Misery Coast comes off their eponymous debut EP earlier this week with the dusty “Never Woulda Guessed” confessing they didn’t imagine themselves winding up 6 feet in the ground while the horrorcore/industrial “Scream” by Samson Samson talks about making innocent victims shriek when walking in the room. “Demon Me” by Madd Maxxx & Sleep Lyrical bodies a trap beat together feeling lost out their minds while the outro “Nobody” by Grounds sends off the compilation with a metal closer kin to his debut EP Walking into Tragedy.

Dirtcore last Christmas finished 2024 with Dirtcore Music by compiling a collection of songs that’ll get the average listener who hasn’t heard of with the label familiarized with who everyone is from an artistic standpoint & a little bit as people. As far as Overkill’s concerned, they’re switching it up by having the entire roster penning songs that celebrate Samhain through a mix of styles from horrorcore & industrial music to metal & a small dosage of spoken word.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Dirtcore Music – “Dirtcore” review

Dirtcore Music is an independent record label based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan founded by local rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Crossworm. The sole artist officially signed for its first 2 decades of existence until bringing Samson Samson whom he formed Bodies Below Sea Level with, Madd Maxxx, Mumm Ra, Sleep Lyrical, J Reno whom he formed Misery Coast with & Grounds all on board. Others such as Gavyn Gunn & Oblivia have spent a brief amount of time signed to Dirtcore with Gavyn’s debut EP Malevolent being a great start to his ongoing trilogy & the rest of the current roster dropping off a showcase compilation on Christmas.

“You Can Get It” by Grounds, Mumm Ra, Samson Samson & Sleep Lyrical produced by Crossworm follows the “Good Evening” intro fusing electronic & trap to -leave enemies toe-tagged whereas “Burn It All Down” by Bodies Below Sea Level industrially finds themselves in a pyromanic type of mood. “The Split” by Misery Coast & Sleep Lyrical meshes these acoustics & hi-hats to talk about this being their life’s work prior to “Kill Em All” by Madd Maxxx & Misery Coast spitting the wicked shit over a trap instrumental.

Madd Maxxx gets his own solo cut with “Zatoichi” aggressively promising to take you out over a cold blooded aboom bap instrumental from J Reno leading into the cutthroat “Landmine” by Madd Maxxx & Misery Coast talking about rollin’ with villains & henchmen. “Keep You Safe” by Grounds, Madd Maxxx & Sleep Lyrical aesthetically somewhat reminds me of 1,000 Suns/Living Things era LINKIN PARK just before “Wear Them Kicks” by Madd Maxxx after an interlude from Dirtcore’s label manager Bando suggests to slide by him if you wanna try him.

“Heavy Babies Weigh Too Much” by Grounds teases his upcoming EP Walking into Tragedy this spring with a self-produced alternative rock track that breaks down during the 2nd half of it but once “Ill” by Madd Maxxx & Samson Samson gets back in their wicked bags decimating a boom bap instrumental, Bodies Below Sea Level goes into “Killmode” for the final song on the comp with the occasional guitars reminding me of “My Last Breath” by Evanescence serving as the entrance theme of former 2-time AEW TNT Champion, AEW World Trios Champion, 2-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion, TNA World Champion, 6-time WWE world champion, 4-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, 9-time WWE tag team champion & The Patriarchy leader Christian Cage.

Making my holiday season a little better, all 8 artists get together to end what’s been an outstanding year for music by compiling a collection of songs that’ll get the average listener unfamiliar with Dirtcore familiarized with who everyone is from an artistic standpoint & a little bit as people. The production from the trio of in-house producers displays the Grand Rapids imprint’s prominently underground wicked shit sound & expanding beyond it for industrial music, rock music, boom bap, electronic rock & trap signaling that everything they’ve done these past few years was only the beginning.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Mumm Ra – “Autogod” review

This is the 2nd EP albeit Dirtcore Music debut from Chicago, Illinois emcee Mumm Ra. A member of the Mission: Infect collective, he eventually made his solo debut in 2008 with Remember the Name & the sophomore effort The AboM:Ination. His debut EP Clash of the Titans: The Return of 3rd Earth & his 3rd album The God Complex both came out back-to-back a decade ago, which later resulted in him following those up with Wrath of the Titans & House of M respectively. Madd Maxx just put out his new EP Dirtcore 24 at the beginning of the month celebrate his birthday, so it makes perfect sense to have The God kick off the Autogod trilogy.

After the “Chapter 1” intro, the first song “You Can’t Get Rid Me” produced by Crossworm is this incredibly dark opener addressing everyone who thought he was done making music whereas “Come On” talks about loyalty not being what it once was anymore over an electronic trap instrumental. “Had Enough” takes the apocalyptic trap route expressing his frustrations with rappers frontin’ while “King Omega” embraces the boom bap discussing his range being a beautiful thing. “1 Time” ends the EP dustily promising he’ll annihilate your squad.

Dirtcore has been steadily proving itself to be a dominant force within the underground ever since Crossworm started signing other artists to the label & Autogod not only proves my point further, but it has me feeling confident that the rest of the EP trilogy will go on to become some of the most important material in his discography. It’s more well-produced than some of his past material & you can really hear the reignited passion through Mumm’s verses.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Mission: Infect – “arM:Igeddon” review

Mission: Infect are an underground collective consisting of Lo Key, Badluck, Dubbs, DurtE, Grewsum, Madd Maxxx, Malaria, Mumm Ra, St. Sinna, Tha Wikid One & 0. They’ve released 6 full-lengths together in the span of nearly 2 decades including the Chemical Threats tetralogy, XterM:Ination & Asphyxiation with quite a few other members finding success on their own as solo artists in the wicked shit scene. However after 7 years of silence as a unit, the crew are getting back together for their first EP.

“Pathogen” featuring Grewsum, Lo Key, Madd Maxxx & Tha Wikid One is this hardcore trap opener putting their gas masks on whereas “Guns Up” featuring Badluck, Grewsum & Lo Key kinda draws from electronic dance music instrumentally talking about rallying up the soldiers. All 3 emcees stick around for “Old Man Flow” working in kicks & snares to drop battle bars just before “Load ‘Em Up” featuring DurtE, Lo Key, Madd Maxxx & Tha Wikid One finds the quartet over a dark trap beat talking about taking ‘em down.

Badluck, Grewsum & Lo Key get back together for “Get Ya Mask On” returns to the boom bap going door-to-door to get their blast on leading into “Fire Back” featuring Dubbs, Lo Key & Malaria keeps it raw talking about rightfully being veterans decapitating heads again. “Welcome Home” featuring Badluck, Grewsum, Malaria, Mumm Ra, St. Sinna & 0 concludes the EP with everyone over kicks, snares & electronic-toned synths acknowledging that the underground missed them as a unit.

This is the 2nd longest gap between releases for Mission: Infect since Chemical Threats 3 & 4 both came out 8 years after Asphyxiation since everyone’s been focusing on further establishing themselves as solo artists. That said: arM:Igeddon still proves the collective hasn’t gone anywhere after all this time. The production is varied in sound whether it be horrorcore, trap, boom bap, hardcore hip hop or electronica/electronic dance music & everyone sounds happy to be reunited.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!