4th Pyramid

From the first moments of "Contemplating Where To Begin," the opening track on 4th Pyramid's debut full-length, it is obvious that this will not be your average musical ride. And over the next 15 tracks, this instrumental album soothes the savage soul (or just entices the lady friend). 4th Pyramid seems intent on displaying his skills at manipulating the samples on a variety of songs, with tracks ranging from the mellow soul of "Light Through The Fog" to the trip-hop sounds of "Taking It Back (Yesterdays Pt. 2)" with its beautiful vocal sample, to the Spectre-like horrors of "Marching Into Armaggedon Pt. 2." But, through it all, The Light Is But The Shade... maintains its soulful acid-jazz-hop in a way that permits the album to flow from beginning to end - something important to any good instrumental album. About the only complaint for this self-released project is the absence of a DJ. A few finely placed, non-intrusive cuts would certainly give it just a little more flash - although it's not really needed. A great debut release that has me wondering how 4th Pyramid will sound producing music for an MC to rhyme over.