- Audio CD (17 Mar 2008)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Dented
- ASIN: B00131OYNY
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 359,046 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Review
This is the debut album from this London hip-hop collective centred around The Heresy. The duo is loosely based around the concept that today's black youth need to relearn the wisdom of ancient empires such as the Egyptians and Olmecs in order to overcome the trials of life in the ghetto. You don' have to look quite so far into the past to discover who The Heresy's musical ancestors are, however. For most of the beats producers Beat Butcher and Chemo have created for Anathema sound exactly like they were unearthed on an archaeological expedition through the Wu-Tang Clan's legendary 36 Chambers during the mid-90s, whilst for all the rhymes about ''Imhotep'' and ''biorhythmic hieroglyphics'', MCs Cyrus Malachi and Nasheron seem to have been studying the lyric sheets in Nas records as much as scrolls in Sanskrit.
This is a combination which can, at times, result in tracks like Pyramid Warz and Leviathan, which are fantastically tense and taut. The beats contain as much barely-veiled threat as the rhymes, while wracked female voices and ominous piano chords echo over the crisp snares. Meanwhile the lyrics intertwine arcane imagery with street-level narratives straight from Hackney's 'Murder Mile'. The album is at its best when the guests like Melanin9 - combined with whom Cyrus Malachi and Nasheron form the so-called Triple Darkness - appear to provide a third flow. Indeed, on occasion they can rank alongside the likes of Foreign Beggars when it comes to taking UK hip-hop to a higher level beyond just whingeing about record companies or having to live on beans on toast for a week.
Yet much like the ancient civilizations they turn to for inspiration, after a while The Heresy can began to feel somewhat set in stone, the beats sounding so cold and rigid that they're practically fossilised, while some of the more elaborate rhymes collapse beneath too many metaphors. Not that Anathema isn't worth digging into, but you'll have to be prepared to search for the real jewels amidst the all-pervading gloom. --Paul Clarke
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4.0 out of 5 stars
spiritually, socially, historically aware UK Hip Hop,
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This review is from: Anathema (Audio CD)
Reviewing an album whose title you're scared of wrongly pronouncing is a daunting task but here I am listening to `Anathema' by Triple Darkness and writing some words about it. According to the wealth of all knowledge, Wikipedia, Anathema can mean any of a few things: "something lifted up as an offering to the gods", "banished" or "set apart". Any of those definitions could be the reason for the naming of this album.
It was whilst MC Cyrus Malachi was "banished" from society with what may have been just a dictionary and a book on ancient systems of religion, that he really sharpened his lyrical skills, leading eventually, post release, to the line up of him, Nasheron and M9 (aka Melanin9). - Triple Darkness. The beats, provided entirely by Beat Butcher and Chemo, really hit hard (as you'd expect) - I don't recommend listening to this quietly. The production is largely dark and haunting, suiting the lyrics to a T. The guest list features features some high profile names in UK Hip Hop: Kyza, Skriblah and Blind Alphabets. The intelligent rhymes are what really "set apart" this crew from the rest, whether commenting on today's streets or civilizations of days bygone you can rely on them to provoke thought; even if it is `What on earth does that word mean?'. The MC's are not only socially and historically minded; Triple Darkness boast spiritual awareness unrivalled in the UK scene. That's not to say they're religious nuts, it's just that they think of more than the usual carnal delights associated with Hip Hop - the reason why they may consider this album to be an "offering to the gods", not that it's easy to tell which gods they believe in. I really recommend picking up a copy of this well presented piece of work unless, that is, you're scared of having to think a bit more than during the average Hip Hop listening session. Certified Bangers: `Anathema', `Pyramid Warz' & `Guerilla Penmanship' Top Lyric: "Certified mic veterans, codex adeptus//With no thoughts of penance, only steel vengeance" (Hook from `Anathema')
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