(EVIL TWIN)

This has been a record I’ve been waiting for about two weeks now. Ever since they released that lead single,  I’ve spent every leading week asking, enquiring, and checking for the record only for it to come out now.

Two amazing acts, combing their ways and paths to create the real ‘Evil Twin’. Let’s talk about it!

This is the brand-new album by MC’s SMELLO and Super Producer Vinyl Villain, and together they drop eight fresh tracks with the likes of 

-Kaleo Jacob’s

-Datkidbravo

-Chyna Baejing

-Nyeusi Loe

The usual cast of brothers and sisters come together for this new project, representing the 23Incredible series. 

As mentioned above, we have Vinyl taking care of the production, and after hearing his work on the single ‘ILLITERATEILLMIND’, I knew he was going to make a series of bangers, and that’s exactly what he does on here!

This is some of the most dark and eerie tracks I’ve heard him work on lately. The closest to this would have to be ‘LORD OF THE ZINGZ’ in terms of magnitude, heaviness, and overall surreal feel and darker atmosphere! 

He absolutely nailed the sounds and instrumentals across this record! From that opening track ‘KNOWLEDGEPOWER’ with those haunting and mysterious chords that transform into those grand/methodical chords as well as those subtle keys and heavy drums!

Or we can look at the track ‘BORNINABARN’ which has this heavy sci-fi, alien abduction vibe to it with those hypnotic chords, angelic what sounds like violin sounds as well as fascinating and mesmerising drum patterns that run in a type of loop to give the track a certain ‘skeleton’ for the rest of the instrumentation to latch on to! 

Not to mention DatKid going absolutely ballistic across the track! 

Another track that really surprised me was ‘GETALIFE’ due to its grand and orchestral nature! You have those jittery and fast-paced keys that run in a pattern that almost sounds like a swarm of bees flying towards you! 

This track also has these sharp as fuck drums and extra subtle light keys that have an infrequent placement in the track to provide that small feel of ‘randomness’ that is infectious!

Man, this whole album is a masterpiece mixture of various sounds and influences to create a predominantly disturbing and diabolical landscape for THEMELLOS to go off on and create a memorable sonic adventure that you won’t soon forget anytime soon!

Now, onto THEMELLOS. I’ve had a handful of experiences with them in the past and they’ve done nothing but impress me the more I dive into them! This project is no exception with the pair sounding more on point and focused than I remember hearing them across this year! 

With only a handful of minutes to utilise, there’s no time wasting to be had here, just pure unadulterated bars to match the ferocity of the production! I’m taking bar after bar, solid verse after solid verse and enough bravado to fill the air and then some!

I’d say these guys are severely overrated among most, which is a shame because whenever I hear them on a single or project, they are the ones who I find

surprised me the most!

Going back to what I felt on the ‘ILLITERATEILLMIND’ track, how it was just verbal slaughter from start to finish! That’s exactly what this album is. A celebration of real lyricism and wordplay that not enough follow suit with! 

I love how either on tracks solo or the ones with the few names provided, we see an astonishing level of detail, street poetry, and vivid imagery that only these guys can create!

It feels like I’m listening to an episode of Sopranos turned Hip Hop Project. It’s heavy-handed, striking, complex, hardcore, and artistically beautiful in every way possible! 

This project was every second worth the wait! From the fantastic features to the production itself. Bandcamp exclusive right now and for only $7, you really can’t go wrong! 

https://themellos7.bandcamp.com/album/evil-twin