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"Drums of Death"
I was skeptical about the potential clusterfuck of a record featuringDJ Spooky, Dave Lombardo (from Slayer), and Jack Dangers, but thepresence of two of my favorite MCs of all time, Chuck D and Dälek,pushed me over the edge into "I've got to at least hear this"territory.
Thirsty Ear
Often, pairings like this come from well-intentionedmusicians who want to work together, but don't realize that the sum cannever equal the parts, so I braced for the worst. Happily, Drums of Deathmanages to avoid most of the cliches of supergroups and celebritymusical pairings of this sort, and instead boils down some signatureelements from each artist involved into a quite listenable whole. JackDangers' production is well balanced with Spooky's turntable antics,while the MCs simply do their thing over the rhythm section of Lombardoon drums and Dangers on bass. The Meat Beat head honcho proves thathe's still one of the best groove bassline generators on the planet,and DJ Spooky's cuts and sample selections work well to enhance ratherthan drag down the proceedings. It's Lombardo's drums that I can'tswallow all of the time, as they have an unshakeable "rock" sound thatdoesn't always serve the songs the way a more nuanced sounding kitmight. The grooves are tight if a little clangy on the cymbal end, butit always sounds like a metal drummer slowing down into a hip hopgroove rather than just an accomplished drummer gelling with hisbandmates. That's not to say the drums are bad—in fact almost everytrack gives sample hounds a free shot at an unobscured drum loop fromthe session, but I just wish the drums were somehow more processed andfitting with the primarily dub-leaning vibe. Chuck D and Dälek enhancethe record with vocal performances straight out of their standardplaybooks and there's enough guitar noise and metal riff sampling topossibly draw the the long-haired set out of their comfort zone alittle, which I have to imagine is the point with a lot of this.Skipping past the embarrassing Spooky on turntable/Lombardo on skinscall and response piece, and the oddly-lifted Jack Dangers sci-fisoundtrack pieces, Drums of Death winds up as a suprisingly funamalgam of styles and sounds that manages to overcome the threat ofnovelty, even if it never elevates to the heights of its contributors'individual accomplishments.
Thirsty Ear
Often, pairings like this come from well-intentionedmusicians who want to work together, but don't realize that the sum cannever equal the parts, so I braced for the worst. Happily, Drums of Deathmanages to avoid most of the cliches of supergroups and celebritymusical pairings of this sort, and instead boils down some signatureelements from each artist involved into a quite listenable whole. JackDangers' production is well balanced with Spooky's turntable antics,while the MCs simply do their thing over the rhythm section of Lombardoon drums and Dangers on bass. The Meat Beat head honcho proves thathe's still one of the best groove bassline generators on the planet,and DJ Spooky's cuts and sample selections work well to enhance ratherthan drag down the proceedings. It's Lombardo's drums that I can'tswallow all of the time, as they have an unshakeable "rock" sound thatdoesn't always serve the songs the way a more nuanced sounding kitmight. The grooves are tight if a little clangy on the cymbal end, butit always sounds like a metal drummer slowing down into a hip hopgroove rather than just an accomplished drummer gelling with hisbandmates. That's not to say the drums are bad—in fact almost everytrack gives sample hounds a free shot at an unobscured drum loop fromthe session, but I just wish the drums were somehow more processed andfitting with the primarily dub-leaning vibe. Chuck D and Dälek enhancethe record with vocal performances straight out of their standardplaybooks and there's enough guitar noise and metal riff sampling topossibly draw the the long-haired set out of their comfort zone alittle, which I have to imagine is the point with a lot of this.Skipping past the embarrassing Spooky on turntable/Lombardo on skinscall and response piece, and the oddly-lifted Jack Dangers sci-fisoundtrack pieces, Drums of Death winds up as a suprisingly funamalgam of styles and sounds that manages to overcome the threat ofnovelty, even if it never elevates to the heights of its contributors'individual accomplishments. samples:
- Assisted Suicide (featuring Dälek)
- B-Side Wins Again (featuring Chuck D)
- Incipit Zarathustra
