I didn’t even know Omerta existed until December of last year when I and two other WKNC DJs took the drive to Greensboro to see Loathe at Hangar 1819.
Though they weren’t headliners, their captivating stage presence and savage energy riveted me. Following the show, I immediately went home and listened to their entire discography.
Five times over.
America’s Most-Hated Boy Band
Based in Houston, Texas, Omerta fuses 90s metalcore with vaporwave and cybergrind whatever those words mean to create a uniquely hardcore sound.
With a website still under construction and an enigmatic style reminiscent of 2010s tumblr-era “girlcore” aesthetic, Omerta is an up-and-coming brand bringing an air of innovation to the scene.
“Hyperviolence”
Released as the band’s debut album in 2020, Hyperviolence is vicious and vile in all of the best ways.
With a runtime of just under twenty minutes, the album passes by in a feverish haze.
The album’s multiplicity of styles serves as a testament to the band’s experimental nature. Each song has a distinct sound and draws from a combination of stylistic methods.
The album’s opening track, “Payback,” has a trap metal slant while the final track, “Hyperviolence,” leans towards a metalcore style.
“Garbage,” the 4th track on the album, has clear contemporary emo influences.
This blending of styles makes each track particularly engaging.
Every time I listen, I notice something new.
“Antiamorous”
Omerta’s most recent single, “Antiamorous,” is a testament to the band’s stylistic metamorphosis.
Featuring former Spider Gang member JOHNNASCUS, the song hints at an interesting new direction for the band’s discography.
Aptly described as genre-defying, the 3-minute song is almost epsodic in nature.
A mix of metalcore, trap metal, emo and other niche influences, “Antiamorous” literalizes the term “listening experience.”
Harry Permezel is a singer songwriter from Melbourne, Australia. He wrote, recorded, and produced this album himself. The album “Wax Man” was released on May 4, 2018. You might like this album if you like Elliot Smith, Sufjan Stevens and/or Wednesday.
His songs often feel calming yet driven, and more often than not have moderately sad subject matter.
“Wax Man”
This track is my favorite on the album. The guitar, drums, and vocals are closely unified in rhythm which makes the song feel driven, but not quite upbeat.
One of my favorite features of Permezel’s writing is exhibited well in this song; His lyrics often seem less like an interpretation of an experience and more like the an account of what happened. This kind of writing leaves room subjective interpretation which is often a mark of good songwriting.
The song begins with these lyrics:
“Trying to stop the little hand of the clock With all the bills you have got A fair while outside of the city You drove that car so fast”
“Wax Man” Lyrics by Harry Permezel
The lines establish clearly that there is someone in the speaker’s life who wishes to pause time, and does the closest thing possible (driving out of the city and ignoring their problems). The speaker then elaborates more about this avoidant character and establishes that their is trust between themselves and the character.
Eventually the song ends with this lyric:
“Trying to stop the little hand of the clock/ Will not do anything”
“Wax Man” lyrics by Harry Permezel
The first half of this couplet duplicates the first line that appears in the song while the second half modifies the first lines original meaning. This is a creative way to end the song and could possibly be described as a humorous as the advice contradicts the listener’s expectations.
“Bonehead”
In this song’s lyrics, the speaker clearly feels distant and indignant, but the musical aspects of the track feel almost peaceful. This juxtaposition is opposite of the experience of the speaker in the song. The speaker recalls:
“Scary sounds drowning out the thoughts I thought would make me feel better”
“Bonehead” lyrics by Harry Permezel
In the speakers life, sound drowns out attempts at positivity, but in the song, negative thoughts are drowned out by sound.
One of the coolest production moments on the album occurs in the first chorus of the song. The section begins with a straightforward harmony in which there is a main vocal and two more other vocals alongside it, but soon after, the voices are panned left to right and sing single words one after another. This use of stereo audio makes it sound like the vocals are bouncing from one ear to another which creates an interesting listening experience.
Conclusion
This is one of my favorite albums, which makes it difficult to to give it a rating. The songs on the album are very well written and were produced in an intriguing and memorable way. I will admit though that there isn’t really anything groundbreaking about the album, but that is not to say that every musical project needs to be.
Cover for "Only Theatre of Pain" by Christian Death
“Only Theatre of Pain” is the first studio album by American goth band Christian Death. This album is exactly what I would imagine as the backdrop for a Poppy Z. Brite or Anne Rice novel, something vampiric and sensual and darkly romantic.
Released through Frontier records on March 24, 1982, the 16-track album is 52 minutes of pure gothic insanity.
Christian Death 12/3/1982 at the Cove, Hermosa Beach, CA. Rozz Williams (vocals) & Johnnie Sage (guitar) pictured, picture released into the public domain.
For individuals interested in getting into goth music or for those simply curious as to what “goth” sounds like, “Only Theatre of Pain” is by far one of the most archetypically goth albums I can recommend.
The album smacks of classic goth aesthetics, with invocations of magic, blood and allusions to religious texts and the works of Poe. Each track is its own story, united under a cowl of enigmatic mystique.
It’s a riveting experience.
The Album
The album’s opening track, “Cavity – First Communion” starts with foreboding church bells and a swell of drums and guitar.
The melody is warm and vaporous like incense smoke, the trilling guitar at times echoing the cries of a church choir. Vocalist Rozz Williams falls in with his distinctive voice, both raspy and insouciant, and weaves together a tapestry of dark poetry.
Let’s skirt the issue of discipline Let’s start an illusion With hand and pen Re-read the words and start again Accept the gift of sin The gift of …
“Cavity – First Communion,” Christian Death
Following this song is “Figurative Theatre,” one of Christian Death’s most popular tracks.
The song opens with with immediate energy. The rolling guitar slant is classic. Every time I hear it, I know exactly what’s coming next, and that’s the brilliance of Rozz Williams’s penchant for extended metaphor. This brilliance pervades throughout the rest of the album.
“Rozz at Daucus Karota concert,” uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by B. Dippel, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0
Breath ballet prancers spin on porcelain backbones A child’s muddled cry turns into hilarity Ungracious freeloaders leave their dead on a doorstep Flowers of doom all bloom in prosperity
Their razor sharp tongues invite to relax As they slip the skin on your eyelids back Invasive spectators get into the act With roses and candles, silver knives and spoons With silver knives and spoons
“Figurative Theatre,” Christian Death
What I most admire about Christian Death is the way lyrics are translated through the mechanism of Rozz Williams.
His lyrics are intentionally abstract, blending imagery both horrific and holy to illustrate an ambiguous picture. When paired with his irreverent voice, otherwise grotesque concepts become dramatic and theatrical.
The album’s tenth track, “Prayer,” is a sort of intermission — largely instrumental and avant garde (reminiscent of the sounds of Williams’s Shadow Project) — that ushers in the following (bonus) track, “Deathwish,” and its melancholic nihilism.
I see the end, I see the end Well it was open so I crawled inside And someone up ahead was crying Well someone up ahead was dying Lost in the darkness, lost in today…
“Deathwish,” Christian Death
Another notable track, “Desperate Hell,” opens with an eerie harmony of ghostly wails, drums and guitar. Williams’s quavering voice enters before the melody becomes manic and straight-up dastardly as the song’s speaker is dragged into eternal damnation.
Final Thoughts
For fans of the esoteric and occasionally inscrutable, “Only Theatre of Pain” is a valuable resource.
From start to finish, the album is a journey. Perhaps even a horror, with the lurid and the beautiful posed side-by-side. Rozz Williams does not tell the listener what to think, but rather creates a vivid picture to do so for him.
Through the progression of abstract concepts, Williams tells a convoluted tale of perversion and devotion and subversion.
Every time I listen to the album, I notice something different. The album is so multitudinous, both in its lyrical construction and experimental sound design, that there seems to always be something new to notice.
Theatre’s Kiss, a self-described “depressive post-punk” artist who I discovered entirely by accident, has fundamentally changed my life with their newest album.
“Leidensmelodien“, released Dec. 30, 2022, was the best belated Christmas gift a goth could ask for. This transcendental musical experience is like walking through an arctic, sobering dream.
Theatre’s Kiss
I discovered Theatre’s Kiss in the fall of 2022 while attempting to compose a setlist for my then-radio show, “The Superego” (currently on summer hiatus).
At the time, the extent of the artist’s discography was a single album — Self Titled — and six short tracks.
Those half-dozen songs fully ensnared me.
I was one of about sixty-eight monthly listeners on Spotify. And like those like-minded peers, I absolutely adored the tracks “Vulnerable” and “König.”
There was something about the style of the songs that really got to me.
As a (guilty) fan of the The Smiths for their heart-twinging melancholia, the plaintive voice of the (unnamed) vocalist struck a similar chord.
And with the gothic undertow of spectral synths and a depressive guitar added to the mix, I had found my new favorite band.
Album cover for Leidensmelodien by Theatre’s Kiss
“Leidensmelodien”
As the creator of Theatre’s Kiss explains in a vague tagline at the end of their Spotify profile:
“It’s all about the atmosphere, nothing else matters.”
And “Leidensmelodien” is purely atmospheric.
The album’s opening track, “Downfall,” is entirely instrumental.
A sullen guitar-synth combo engages in a morose conversation, the spaces between sounds growing smaller and smaller as the song progresses and the two “voices” seem to overlap.
By the end, we’re left with a single sensation before the instruments fade out and a distinctly medieval arrangement ushers us into the next track, “Schizo.”
This five-minute song is insanely complex.
The vocals are brooding and occasionally layered to create a hazy, ominous effect.
Throughout the song, a crisp scream reminiscent of Doom Metal echoes the words of the vocalist — an elusive individual known only as “Fassse Lua” — much like screeching wind.
The contrast between these two voices, one pleasantly soft and the other jagged and rough, creates a vivid and uncanny harmony.
Though it stands as the second track of the album, “Schizo” certainly sets the tone for the rest of the piece as existing somewhere between nightmares and dreams.
The experimental combination of different ghostly and foreboding sounds means that every track on this album is a new and unique experience.
It’s almost operatic.
Album cover for Self Titled by Theatre’s Kiss
The Bigger Picture
“Leidensmelodien” is an album about grief.
Or rather, “melodies of suffering.”
And as the mind behind Theatre’s Kiss teases, this album (as well as Self Titled) is but a single chapter in a larger project.
Before Poppy was the musician that she is today, most knew her as a YouTube sensation who gained popularity for her cryptic videos. “I Disagree,” released in January 2020, was a large departure from Poppy’s previous work, which was mostly pop. “I Disagree” does a lot of genre-blending, but the biggest shock of the album to Poppy’s fans was the heavy metal influence that reverberated through the album.
Poppy’s most recent album prior to the release of “I Disagree” was “Am I A Girl?,” which offered hints of the soon-to-come metal genre that Poppy would embrace in its last two tracks, “Play Destroy,” featuring Grimes, and “X.”
Song Highlights
I will admit that I am a huge fan of this album and have probably listened to it enough to memorize every beat and syllable spoken throughout it.
Its first track, titled “Concrete,” instantly introduces the sort of genre-mixing Poppy will go on to ace through the rest of the album. It’s not just genre-ambiguous, but actually switches back and forth between heavy metal (complete with guitar shredding and even some screaming) and bubblegum pop.
“Anything Like Me” contains lyricism that reinforces Poppy’s purpose in making this album–
Sorry for what I’ve become Because I’m becoming someone
“Anything Like Me” – Poppy
She goes on in this song to talk about a girl who seems to represent the things that Poppy is supposed to be, but doesn’t wish to be.
I feel her heart beating in me Get her out of me
“Anything Like Me” – Poppy
Poppy works throughout the album to express the idea that conformity is a disease. In “BLOODMONEY,” she asks–
What do you believe when everyone is watching?
“BLOODMONEY” – Poppy
And in “Fill The Crown,” she says,
You can be anyone you want to be
You can be free, you can be free
“Fill The Crown” – Poppy
Poppy is clearly expressing her desire for individuality, likely in response to the pressures she felt around making music in an industry and working with producers who executed excessive control over her work.
Conclusion
Poppy’s evolution does not seem to be finished yet. From electronic pop in her first album “Poppy.Computer” to the metal in “I Disagree,” and even to the alt-rock/indie vibes of her most recent album, “Flux,” Poppy seems to be innovating in every area she can, not just with her music, but with her character and stage presence as well.
Album cover of "sharp objects" by mark drizzle. Photo courtesy of mark drizzle
Mark Drizzle’s debut album “sharp objects” is like if a kid who grew up listening to Saosin and Owl City made a passion project in the 2020s. Actually, it’s exactly that.
General Overview
Mark Drizzle, a queer songwriter and producer living in San Diego, California, released their debut album “sharp objects” in August 2022.
Listening to “sharp objects” feels like scratching all the right itches– Mark Drizzle is able to combine emo and pop-punk with hyperpop, meaning heavy guitars are almost always matched with inventive techno riffs.
The ambiguity of genre is fantastic; it’s exciting to see hyperpop being mixed with metalcore guitar, but it’s even more exciting to see Mark Drizzle combine their experimental music with deep and creative lyricism.
Song and Lyric Highlights
“deepfake”
Mark Drizzle opens their album with a track, “deepfake,” that I haven’t been able to stop listening to since it first came out. Its catchy, danceable melody met with Mark’s semi-falsetto makes it irresistible.
Brain zaps from the Lexapro
Secrets only you would know
Yeah, I had a bad, bad episode
Sippin’ on a dollar sweet tea, now I’m good to go
“deepfake” – mark drizzle
These opening lyrics may be some of my favorites on the entire album. They offer relatability and make the track clearly contemporary without being overly obvious about it– it’s the sort of song that could go viral on TikTok, but not the type of song that would only go viral because it’s on TikTok (I’m calling the Mark Drizzle rise to stardom before anyone else).
“man”
“Man” is the fourth track on the album, and discusses the difficulties related to toxic masculinity, as well as the ways in which masculinity is enforced on those who don’t identify with manhood but are expected to.
As a man it’s kinda silly to romanticize your life
Your memory’s just fine you won’t need pictures
We’ll allow you one short paragraph whenever someone dies
Then you’ll go back to living someone else’s life
“man” – mark drizzle
Mark Drizzle uses their own voice to echo the things they have heard and been repeatedly told relating to the gender roles placed on them.
It is refreshing to see lyricism as honest and vulnerable as this, and seeing a rise in queer voices being used to speak openly and fearlessly about the queer experience is beyond exciting and empowering.
Man-to-man you’re getting awfully comfortable showing your skin
You don’t need vitamin D, they’ve got pills for that
And as a man I’d be embarrassed at the check-out cart from Shein
Fast fashion won’t eliminate that feeling
“man” – mark drizzle
Beyond “deepfake” and “man,” the album’s title track stands out as incredibly strong, with clever and heartfelt lyrics preceded by a true emo intro– screaming and all. I’m also partial to an instrumental track, “when i say no you turn back around,” for its twinkly math rock riffs.
Concluding Thoughts
There are few other albums I’ve found with the vast diversity of genre of “sharp objects,” and yet, the album is surprisingly cohesive. Maybe it’s Mark Drizzle’s unique character being woven into each song, but whether it be a track that starts with acoustic guitar, screaming, or a 100 gecs-esque melody, it all stands out as something you should hold closely before putting it down.
Have you been looking for some angsty electronic noise pop to pass your days? Black Dresses have got you covered. Their 2018 album “WASTEISOLATION” takes listeners on a sexually-charged trip through the duo’s past abuses. Along the way, they create an unnerving soundscape that bashes in listeners’ heads in the best way. The result is a fantastic listening experience to release the frustration of a rough day at work or a nasty breakup.
I was dully teasing my dopamine doused brain, scrolling through the endless pit of social media looking for the next mild prod of unimportant something to let my eroding attention feed on. I found a conversation about noise music, and someone cited Merzbow’s “Pulse Demon” as a “palate cleanser,” so I decided to listen to it.
There are no ideas in this album.
There is nothing memorable in this album.
There is nothing of independent significance in this album.
There is nothing at all special in this album.
It’s just pure grating noise.
But after five quarters of an hour of nothing, something neat happened. Everything else sounded different. The silence was the same, the songs were the same. But the way I was conditioned to hear it was different.
I decided to put on some of my favorite tunes. Don’t get me wrong, my enjoyment of the music that I listened to afterwards didn’t change, but the way that I heard the music was totally different. I could hear everything. I paid mind to everything. This is how the artist thinks. I could feel each component of the music and how they all connect. I could think about it far more critically.
Pressing play on a track from “Pulse Demon” and skipping to the middle to listen for a few seconds is silly. Playing this for someone who has never heard of it before and only giving them a snippet is ridiculous. It’s like saying “c’mere, lemme show you a clip from this movie,” and it’s the entire movie sped up and condensed into five seconds, complete with cartoonish sound effects.
It’s a comically overwhelming amount of information to push onto someone for such a short period of time. However, the humor is just the method by which we reject the rush of information. Once your mind gets over the hurdle and is able to acclimate to it, it becomes entrancing.
If you relax your eyes, look at the cover art for “Pulse Demon” long enough, and immediately look at something else, it’ll start to warp. The image tricks your eyes. The harsh bends and folds hurt to look at, but once you’re done looking, everything else looks different. This effect is fleeting, but it’s noticeable.
Is this placebo? Is this real? It’s not astounding or groundbreaking, but nonetheless it’s fascinating- and it might be the cure for music.
My first introduction to Danny Brown’s music was through his 2016 album “Atrocity Exhibition”. After subsequently visiting the rest of his discography, this album still holds its place as Brown’s most introspective and critical.
Over the 45 minute runtime, Brown delivers a haunting portrayal of a life intimately tied to drugs, including all of the pleasures and struggles that accompany them.
Admittedly, it takes some getting used to his voice on the majority of “Atrocity Exhibition” tracks. However, Brown’s whiny, nasally rapping helps reinforce the sense that he is most certainly not sober as he raps.
“Ain’t It Funny”
Brown’s primary goal with “Atrocity Exhibition is to keep people from getting sucked into heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and other drugs. At the same time though, he knows why people do get involved, and much of the rest of the album is dedicated to exploring those reasons.
Live a fast life, seen many die slowly
Unhappy when they left so I try to seize the moment
Lyrics from “Ain’t It Funny” by Danny Brown
“Ain’t It Funny” explores Brown’s own denial of the dangers of hiding away his problems with drugs. Part of the denial comes from a place of drugs being inescapable. Growing up poor, drug use seems “inherited in our blood”. He also falls victim to toxic masculinity, seeing drug use as a sort of ritual that all the men in his area undergo. Therefore, even though he “might need rehab”, he’s not going to for fear of seeming weak.
Music video of “Ain’t It Funny” by Danny Brown, directed by Jonah Hill
The title of the song itself, “Ain’t It Funny” reflects Brown’s feelings on exposing his most vulnerable self to an audience primarily looking for entertainment. Especially considering his previous work, many listeners have taken home a message of: “doing drugs is fun kids!”
Brown simultaneously knows that people get drunk and high at parties to his music, which he does make a living off of, yet these tendencies are extremely harmful to both himself and others. He needs to stop, but he can’t due to addiction to the chemicals, the thrill, and the success.
A Race to The Bottom
If there’s anything Brown especially excels at, it’s pacing. The album never feels like it stalls anywhere, even when songs slow down their bpm and feature less intense beats. “Downward Spiral” begins the album with a raucous, uncertain experience of not feeling grounded. Intensity of tracks fluctuates slightly through the ghostly “Lost”.
All hell breaks loose as “Ain’t It Funny” hits and the energy from that climax seeps through the following four tracks into “Dance In The Water”. This track forces you to keep up as best as you can as it speeds through its sporadic yet hypnotic verses and party-fueled chorus. You feel pulled into the need to “dance in the water / and not get wet” as if that task were actually possible.
And then, everything just stops with “From The Ground”. The beat on this track is far more minimalistic than anything else on the album, especially compared to the prior song. Brown also shifts to his speaking voice, which sounds more sober, matured, and heartbroken.
“When It Rain” immediately contradicts this sense with the now familiar whiny vocals you’ve come to expect from Brown. The beat, which is almost completely made from sampling of the experimental “Pot au feu”, imitates the feeling of Brown taking an absurd amount of drugs to escape the worries he discusses on “From The Ground”.
Personally, I feel the urge to continuously speed up while driving when listening to the track. The thrill is invigorating, but it’s progressively more dangerous to both myself and the people around me as I do it. Brown’s whole point is to keep from giving in to that urge.
Only way you hang is with a noose
Beef with us, it ain’t no truce
Lyrics from “When It Rain” by Danny Brown
Concluding Thoughts
There is a level of depth of analysis that can be applied to “Atrocity Exhibition” that I’ve only seen a few other albums be able to achieve. Brown subverts the whole gangster rap genre while also fitting in perfectly by referencing all of the “right things”: gun violence, sex, drug abuse, etc. The entirety of the album reeks of irony: even though the experimental, sample-heavy instrumentals seem to encourage escapism, only excaping the grip of these pleasures will keep you alive.
Rating: 9.5/10
Best tracks: “Ain’t It Funny”, “Pneumonia”, “Dance In The Water”, “When It Rain”
ALBUM: “Melt My Eyez See Your Future” by Denzel Curry
RELEASE YEAR: 2022
LABEL: PH and Loma Vista Recordings
RATING: 8/10
BEST TRACKS: “The Ills,” “Chrome Hearts” and “Walkin”
FCC: Explicit language
In this recent album, Denzel Curry swaps out his signature sound for some self-introspection. He comes to terms with the struggles he has had and poetically lays it out for the audience to be a part of. Fans are used to his hype lyrics, bass-boosted beats, and hard-hitting quick flow; but this album offers something different.
This fifth studio album comes after projects full of bangers like “Ta13oo” and “Zuu”. However, what Curry wanted to present with this album was something other than catchy songs and ragers. His pivot allows for more intimate and reflective music as he explores both his worldview and his view of himself.
The album opens up with “Melt Session #1” which is a slower, self-analyzing introductory ballad. The track, with a piano feature and production from Rober Glasper, provides a soothing yet somewhat haunting sound. These instrumentals pair well with the lyrics, as Curry is discussing more serious topics and wrongs from his past.
Dealt with thoughts of suicide, women I’ve objectified/ Couldn’t see it through my eyes so for that, I apologize/ I’m just hypnotized, working hard to empathize
Lyrics from “Melt Session #1” by Denzel Curry
The song seamlessly flows into the second track “Walkin” by carrying the same angelic background vocals and lyrical refrain. “Walkin” works through some of the personal difficulties Curry has faced while explaining how he interacts with the world around him as obstacles are thrown his way. He raps,
I just gotta stay focused/ I just gotta keep walkin
Lyrics from “Walkin” by Denzel Curry
This was the first track dropped from the album and features production from Kal Banx at Top Dawg Entertainment. Curry’s vocals begin with a slow progression and then switch to double-time with the build-up of a classic trap beat. Despite sticking with a familiar beat and flow in this song, he takes an unrushed pace.
The next notable track on the album, “Troubles,” details his problems with substance abuse and his ability to prioritize what matters. He confesses how he would easily blow his money on drugs, but he would not spend it on what he loves or needs.
I just lost my house to the drought/ Now I’m stayin’ on my mama couch/ Told me get a job or to bounce/ Never paid a bill, I cop a ounce
Lyrics from “Troubles” by Denzel Curry
The song, produced by Kenny Beats and DJ Khalil, also features the iconic and catchy autotuned vocals of T-Pain. The lyrics of the track are juxtaposed with its sound, which is a fun and bassy beat with a pop chorus. The extended edition of the album also has a “Cold Blooded Soul Version” of “Troubles” which brings in energetic percussion and brass. I would definitely say I prefer the live instrumentals in this version to the production in the regular track.
My favorite song on the album, also only on the extended “Cold Blooded Soul Version,” is “Chrome Hearts.” This song takes Curry’s flow and lays it over a light jazz-rap beat. Produced by Aaron Bow, Thurdi and Ashton McCreight, the track also features vocals in the hook from Zacari. Curry poetically raps about an internal conflict regarding the fairness of success as he compares himself to the less fortunate.
A main man, bay man, payin’ for some Ray-Bans/ That cost more than your rent while others struggle to get a cent/ In a sense, I ain’t shit because there’s many people starvin’/ Tombstones of a selfish man, these words are carved in
Lyrics from “Chrome Hearts” by Denzel Curry
The last memorable song on the album, “The Ills,” was produced by Dot Da Genius & Noah Goldstein. In this track, Curry wraps up the album with some piano, deep soul-searching, and self-proclaiming. He reflects on his music as a mode of self-expression and a way of processing his past. He also presents ideas about finding his true purpose and bettering himself. As he is attempting to explain himself now, he acknowledges he does not have it all figured out and still faces struggles. This by far is the most well-written song on the album and the lyrics are executed beautifully through his smooth and gentle flow. My favorite verse in the track follows:
I could be ferocious in my times of feelin’ feeble/ Sick of life’s ills, it could be short for illegal/ Common sense, a victim to sensory deprivation/ The mediator met with it all is in meditation/ Lord invited me to stay idly on his left side/ So I can right my wrongs in these songs to live and let die
Lyrics from “The Ills” by Denzel Curry
While some songs fall short on this album, like “Zatoichi,” I still think Denzel succeeded at challenging his own status quo. The album demonstrates the growth he has gone through, not only as an artist but as a person. As someone who has been a fan since 2015, and is very familiar with the “old Denzel,” I confidently believe that this is one of his best, if not his best, project so far. He works with new instrumentals, strong features, and vulnerable lyrics, all of which make this album stand out.
