th1rt3en
A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism
*and1/2 out of *****
The new trio th1rt3en is the brain child of Queens rapper Pharoahe Monch as he pairs up with drummer Daru Jones and guitarist Marcus Machado for what is being billed as a rock/rap hybrid but is more experimental hip hop with random guitar solos. Things don't pan out for the trio over the course of the album, only few successes and a number of skippable tracks lead to a less than ideal debut.
The best complete offerings are the opening two songs which are laid back grooves with tripped out sounds sprinkled in. "Cult 45" delivers razor cut downs from Monch towards organized religion with great closing guitar work from Machado while "Triskaidekaphobia" is an existential dilemma wrapped up in modern confusion. A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism is the first release from Monch in seven years and "Triskaidekaphobia" feels custom made for these crazy times.
Cypress Hill arrives to help out on the racially aggressive "Fight" with more rapid fire riffs from Machado while the drumming on the album rarely skips away from the constant boom bap throughout. "The Exorcist" is the most interesting offering progressing through Black Sabbath inspired riffs but the disjointed style smacks hard as the next song shifts into the get down jam "Amnesia" which is a total mess.
That shifting of sonic gears continues between the minimal programmed beats of ball of fury "Racist" into the odd love song "Oxygen", putting these songs next to each other on the album dilutes both. "Goats Head" displays a Jimi Hendrix tone while stuttering and going nowhere while the dystopian Wizard of Oz inspired "Scarecrow" is bizarre. The rapid fire rhymes in the middle of "The Magician" don't pair with the arena ready rock, while "666 (Three Six Word Stories) sums up the album with a good groove but the minute the energy ramps up the trio never lock in, moving in three unique directions.
Monch and crew try everything, even an oddball techno upbeat closer titled "Kill Kill Kill", but the final results are muddied at best with the focus seeming to be on style (great album art, the band looking like post apocalyptic motorcycle outlaws) over cohesive substance. A Magnificent Day For An Exorcism never lives up to the talents of the artists involved.
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