Talk about dropping the fucking guillotine! They’re dropping AGAIN ALREADY? Nah, you ain’t ready for this shit, NO ONE is ready for this shit. After Big Trip’s powerhouse of an album earlier this year and with Substance and his former 3 prior to this record, it is a middle finger to the industry saying ‘you think we’d be done?’ And the announcement of this record gave me goosebumps on name alone! So let’s get into it!
This is the collaboration album between Umbrealla MC’s Substance810 and Big Trip! It features production from
– Observe Since 98’
– Jamil Honesty (for TDS)
– 88Blessed (for TDS)
– Hobgoblin
– DJ Butta
– J Quest
– Unfaced
– Cusho
With DJ Grazzhoppa on the cuts!
The intro track ‘CHOPPIN HEADZ’ has this real 1800’s Victorian horror vibe era to it that I fucked with heavily! From those long plucked electric guitar strings that are fashioned into these loud and haunting chords! Accompanied with those screeching keyboard notes and heavy drums. I don’t know why, but this feels like the soundtrack of Jack the Ripper walking through the streets as he commits his heinous acts!
When we discuss track two ‘THE GALLOWS’, it has the same over-the-top, crushing old-school thriller vibe that the intro had! (A running theme across this project) On this record, we have a combination of these high-pitched synth-style chords on loop in the background as well as these spontaneous shriek/experimental keys that feel almost sci-fi in nature!
Of course, you can’t ignore those rhythmic drums that give this track that overwhelming skeleton that makes this whole song click!
Track 3 ‘HONOR AMONGST THIEVES’ we have another theatrical powerhouse of a track, this time diving into more surreal and sombre territories with the instrumentation!
Across this track, we have these heavy and long-placed piano keys that feel like they are packed with enough dreadful emotion to pack a mean sonic punch to the listener!
Pairing with these absolute monstrous sounds, we have more thudding drums and enough sharp atmosphere to rival any gritty underground banger going right now!
Track 4 ‘DEADLY POTENCY’ once again switches up the vibe while maintaining the same dark, looming aura that the whole record has been riding with thus far!
Across this track, we have this classical/orchestral instrumentation with those big live band from the 1800s feel! As the intro fades and the main course of the song comes to life, we have this larger-than-life introduction of these scattering strings and keys that fall in line with those drums to create a sort of ‘controlled chaos’ landscape!
Not to mention those ridiculous cuts that give this track a flare of late 80s inspiration!
Track 5 ‘NATO RDS’ literally starts off with a BANG as we hear the gun go off and the beat begin! On this track, we are treated to a thrilling overture that features these haunting piano keys and such a hypnotic drum pattern that you can’t help but shake your head and mean-mug the world to that shit!
It gets even more droning with those elegant pressed organ-sounding keys for that chorus that makes this whole track feel like Beethoven meets Hip Hop! One of my favourite tracks of the album for sure!
Track 6 ‘STONE COLD’ man, what a track that is! Right off the fucking bat, you’ve got those scattered, fast-paced piano keys that turn heads in its rhythm! That’s a thing about this whole record, they’ve decided to use the ‘less is more’ theory to create such in-depth bangers utilising the few layers they have!
With just an extra edition of some deep bass and minimal drums, and you have a track that’s masterful as it’s skeletal in execution!
Track 7 ‘MEDUSA’ I see a return to the more old-school & theatrical style that they had in the first few tracks! That Jack the Ripper type shit! This song feels like a combination of Victorian Era and Boom Bap!
You’ve got those long-pressed/methodical piano keys that feel just one pace slowed down in the editing, as it gives off that heavy surreal feel! Once again, with just an edition of drums, they turn water to the finest wine on this track!
There is a slight use of what sounds like a plucked violin stroke every now and then, but other than that, more minimalistic brilliance that’s equal parts raw and methodical!
Track 8 ‘IN MEMORY OFF’, they decided to slow the pace down even further for their second-last track with what sounds like a flute loop that’s used in a gorgeously crafted loop that gives this track an almost magical feel to it!
With those mesmerising drums to give this track that extra layer of depth and tension, this feels like that final trace of the ‘high’ you have after taking the ‘substance’ on your ‘big trip’ right before the sobering experience comes back! Truly phenomenal!
To close the record off, we have ‘PUBLIC SPECTACLE’, which is exactly as it sounds. It’s a sonic monument to everything they’ve built across this record, and it features a closure that’s equal parts fantastical and raw!
You’ve got those rhythmic violin strings that are high-strung and sampled as smooth as one can! There also sounds like a flute sample in the background that is accompanying that violin!
With only the drums left to layer, and this track feels like the audio equivalent of a real guillotine, coming down case closed, ending the night with a BANG.
As far as the MC work goes. Has there ever been a reason to doubt the umbrella? The answer is no. It doesn’t matter which member you pick out of a line-up; every single one of them when on the mic drops classic material, and when you combine two of them? It’s literally a rap.
These two have some of the smoothest raps, bars, verses, and most importantly, transitions that you’ll ever hear. These aren’t just two MC’s they are family, and they are more familiar with each other than most of your real families! You can hear it in their raps!
You can hear the way the first will lay the foundation on the first verse the pass it ever so fluently to the second and he takes the torch and makes the track even higher! We are talking about a synchronicity the likes the culture hasn’t seen before!
This goes beyond Hip Hop crews and clicks. This is the fucking UMBRELLA COLLECTIVE! And their mission statement every time they get into the booth is to give a masterclass in all the fundamentals of a MC while showcasing their immense swagger, their undeniable charismas and the unmatched passion these two and the rest of the Umbrella have that makes them stand out from the rest!
I found it hard to even write this review, only because I found myself transfixed on the absolute domination and performances they were giving! The brutality on the mic, the way they utilised each and every single beat and manipulated it for their advantages! Every pun, one liner, phrase, clever double entendres had me in a trance just mean mugging the world and bopping my head!
This isn’t just a rap album, this is an experience. A testament to all the records they’ve already dropped this year as the collective. A statement of creativity, consistency and determination to remind the culture who the best in this game really is and at this point with all they’ve done already this record is simply the purest form of overkill we can have and I love every second of it
So, obviously make sure you check in. If you don’t can you really call yourself a fan of the culture? These two are in their lyrical primes with some of the best producers you can ask for in the industry and they make nothing short of an underground classic!
https://open.spotify.com/album/1R2GKIhVJS3m9dwBBgLlX5?si=HakH24XTQ9yVO64gHf3vqw
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