For his second album with Fake Four, Seattle, WA rapper Sadistik has created a collection of 13 songs that holds together well with no need to skip any tracks. This is largely because the majority of the album is produced between SXMPLELIFE and Eric G, with one each from Maulskull and Kid Called Computer. The beats are dark and downbeat, and on the electronic side of hip hop production. In a few instances the music is even quite laidback and chill, as on "In the Night" and "The Rabbithole," both of which contain large instrumental sections devoid of vocals.
These instrumental breaks offer a bit of respite from Sadistik's lyrically dense alt-rap flow, which is a little more on the braggadocio side this time around than on previous album Flowers For My Father, a very personal record that delved into his father's death. A good storyteller, Sadistik injects his lyrics with dark humour and lots of references to art and literature, as on the pop-ish "1984," where he describes his writing process in part as "Jackson Pollock wildly stencilling the subjects, BANG! And now I'm splattering the pain and such, apple on your head and my aim is Naked Lunch, BANG!"
Ultraviolet is a good album from first track to last, but two tracks continually get rewinds: "Witching Hour" is a creepy, uptempo brag track on which guest Nacho Picasso nearly steals the show on his verse before going back and forth with Sadistik on the third verse, while "Death Warrant" is epic boom bap featuring raw verses from Sticky Fingaz and Tech N9ne. Fans of leftfield hip hop and experimental music will get plenty out of Ultraviolet.
(Fake Four)These instrumental breaks offer a bit of respite from Sadistik's lyrically dense alt-rap flow, which is a little more on the braggadocio side this time around than on previous album Flowers For My Father, a very personal record that delved into his father's death. A good storyteller, Sadistik injects his lyrics with dark humour and lots of references to art and literature, as on the pop-ish "1984," where he describes his writing process in part as "Jackson Pollock wildly stencilling the subjects, BANG! And now I'm splattering the pain and such, apple on your head and my aim is Naked Lunch, BANG!"
Ultraviolet is a good album from first track to last, but two tracks continually get rewinds: "Witching Hour" is a creepy, uptempo brag track on which guest Nacho Picasso nearly steals the show on his verse before going back and forth with Sadistik on the third verse, while "Death Warrant" is epic boom bap featuring raw verses from Sticky Fingaz and Tech N9ne. Fans of leftfield hip hop and experimental music will get plenty out of Ultraviolet.
