Customer Reviews

Bad Blood

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first put this CD in, I expected to hear the usual sludge-core that I expect from Justin Broadrick's guitar work in his main project, Godflesh. What I got was the complete opposite. On this CD, the elements of hip-hop are very obvious, with the looping of drum tracks and unintelligible carcophony thrown about by 8 different MCs, one of which is Blixa Bargeld of the industrial noise band Einsturzende Neubauten. The guitar is almost minimal on the album, but Broadrick should not go uncredited because he intertwines his sound with the vocals to entrap the listener. This probably won't make anyone's Top 10 play list in the near future, But if your forte is Godflesh, Scorn, or any other bands of the like, I highly recommend it.

I would not consider this hiphop at all. This is more like experimental industrial noise with hiphop beats. The vocals seem more like another instrument in the mix some songs you can understand what is said but other songs they put so many fx on the vocals its warped into monsterish voices. If you are a fan of digital hardcore and hip hop then get this right now! Then if you like it and don't already own them, checkout Techno Animal and The Bug. This is the darkest and scariest hiphop EVER. If you like MTV and the radio then avoid this.

With hard beats and grooves that owe a lot to Wu Tang and Cypress Hill, this is an excellent example of how dark and disturbing hip-hop can sound. Though Justin Broadrick of Godflesh is credited with playing guitar on this album, don't expect the kind of riffage found in his full-time band's work. The guitar primarily serves as a tool to create background and ambience. The vocals are reminicent of any given death metal vocalist who decided to start rapping. Guest rappers add an air of street credibility to the primarily white, British line-up. Essentially, this album sounds like an evil conglomeration of Tricky, Godflesh, and Wu Tang Clan.

Dance to it: 2
Weirdness: 10
Catchiness: 1
Originality: 10
Abrasiveness: 6
Self Indulgence: 10
Experimentation: 10
Desperation: 1
Believability: 5
Darkness: 9
Hardcore-ness: 5
Cover Art: 1
Genre Purity: 1
Offensiveness: 3
Accessibility: 1
Notes: includes appearances by EL-P, and Sensational, as well as members of Godflesh, Napalm Death, Einsterzende Neubaten, Anti-Pop Consortium, and Curse of the Golden Vampire...incoherent vocal mumbles w/ hallucinogenic extended break-beat monotony

As more proof of Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin's versatility, these two British gents have made a rap album. If you think that's odd, you must not know who these guys are.

As in their other bands God and Godflesh, there's nothing pleasant to be had about Ice's Bad Blood. The same dark, infected vibe that colored their previous music is still very much here, just in a somewhat muted form. Brooding and percussive-heavy, stark and oppressive, plodding drums and sludgy, looping basslines serve as a foundation for raps that sound like they're coming from the bottom of a well. Occasionally Ice go all derailed and formless on us, as if the original tapes were left out in the sun too long (of course, they weren't). From the opening sounds of "X-1" to the end of the atmospheric white-noise escapade "When Two Worlds Collide", this is a somewhat bewildering 54-minute listening experience. I wouldn't blame you for needing a period to recoup after listening to this album.

As mentioned before, Broadrick and Martin are the main culprits behind this act (along with bassist Dave Cochrane and drummer Scott Harding), but a plethora of guest rappers provide some much-needed color to the albums minimalist, black-and-white approach, from Sebastian Law's sinister, sibilant whispers to El-P's more conventional rapping to Blixa Bargeld's hilarious vocalisms on "A New Breed of Rat". These collaborations are necessary for an album that sets its languid pace early on and doesn't change much.

Bad Blood is like wading through waist-high sewer water, confused and lost, confronting new and strange dangers at every turn. It's not easy listening, but its bizarre left-field quality is sure to attract some of the more challenging listeners among us like moths to a flame. It's certainly different and unique, and what it lacks in hooks, beats, melodies, etc., it makes up in being so damn heavy and oppressive. It's a malign concoction, and yet works, and for that reason alone it's worth seeking out.