Man, as someone who I only discovered recently and considered it was a tape about koalas, it’s pleasing to me to know that he’s back with something even more creative! So let’s talk about it!
So this is the collaboration album between MC ‘Veteran Eye’ and Composer ‘Snoff The Maker’ AKA ‘MC-10
The latter is who I was talking about above, but regardless, this follows the journey of a cyborg MC as he discovers what’s left of a world in a post-apocalyptic age.
Not gonna lie, right off the bat, this gave me a real strong original X-Men original cartoon series season 2 plot of Bishop and his journey to save the world before the X-Men die. So already I love this thing. I’m sure it can give 100 listeners 100 different conceptual experiences and thoughts in their heads.
The production on this thing is very atmospheric, raw, deep, and heavy. Sounds like an 80’s Terminator soundtrack with its eerier, thriller-like sounds and samples used. It definitely suits the story being told.
Throughout the play-through of the album, there’s never an awkward moment of stopping or an obvious cut-off part where you can hear one song changing to the next. It just all sounds like one big episode, and I absolutely love that about the album!
Onto the MC, he definitely does justice to the part played as the Cyborg. Honestly, if Bishop could rap, he would probably sound like this, no lie! Very detailed bars, articulate, crisp, raw, and smooth. No word is ever off-beat, and his flow and penmanship are skilled enough to maintain the imagination of this story being portrayed!
A lot of people don’t understand that when doing a conceptual album, the vocal performances and conviction of them are 70% of it.
Because if the performance isn’t convincing, then neither will the story. So I’m happy to say he definitely hits the mark on his part and makes this one of the most intriguing and interesting listens of 2025!
Overall, a fantastic, creative, and unique album that I feel any and all hip-hop fans can get into!
Shoutout to King Loepawl and Drew Shamir for their dope verses included!
And Zipper & Teeth for the art!
https://veteraneye.bandcamp.com/album/lab-leak
The Serpent Tongue Reviews 