The Horrendous Acts of Violence

The Horrendous Acts of Violence

BY Thomas QuinlanPublished Jul 18, 2007

While Shapeshifter Awol One has just released two new vocal albums (one with Side Road Records producer Factor and the other with "Women Loving Women” collaborators Josh Martinez and Moves), he was able to find some time to produce his own instrumental album under the alias the Horrendous Acts of Violence. This self-titled album is 11 tracks of dark hip-hop in the same vein as Spectre’s illbient beats but without the horror movie samples and sounds. Awol takes it to the dance floor on up-tempo tracks "Breakdead” and "Numberonedj,” slows it down to a plodding pace on "Tonedeaf” and "Angelsing,” and touches on the middle ground throughout. I can’t help but think that most of these instrumentals, while good on their own, would be improved by the addition of an MC. However, the last two tracks would present some problems vocally. For "Whenitallhappened,” Awol combines a snail-pace drumbeat, and possibly an accordion, with a guitar solo that never really seems to jive with the rest of the album. He also keeps things slow for "Angelsing,” with only a slight use of drums for most of the song, along with plenty of creepy keyboards and vocal effects. Although a little less traditional hip-hop, the album could have done with a few more of these — or maybe even some rappers! Still, the Horrendous Acts of Violence could provide the perfect backdrop for your very own horrorcore raps.
(MVD)

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