Ebenezer

Canada sure is building a diverse range of horrorcore artists, with albums released recently from the likes of Vancouver's Hidden Fortress, Calgary's Lexington + Whatevski and Toronto's So Sick Social Club and Admiral Crumple. And now there's a new record from Vancouver's Ebenezer, one of the earliest of the bunch to rap about the dark side of the soul (under the moniker of Evil), as both a solo artist and a member of Draft Dodgers. As far as I can figure, Ebenezer is Evil's money hungry alter ego, as evidenced by "Money," the happiest of the beats, thanks in part to a soulful vocal sample and a cash register effect, both playing throughout. Much of the rest of the album is made up of Evil's simple, humorous horror stories over Stu Ray's dark, creepy, up-tempo production. Highlights sure to appeal to anyone with a sense of humour include creepy Ebenezer bio "The Wanderer," the heavy bass synth and spacey disco effects of conceptual number song "Forty-Eight," and the simply named "Jim," a Buck 65-style character study over a straightforward beat driven by warped guitar. The Wanderer is horrorcore hip-hop for the average rap listener.