CD Review: Hidden Fortress – Self-Titled EP
February 16th, 2009 Filed under: Made In Canada, Reviews - Music by admin
CD Review: Hidden Fortress
Self -Titled
Independent
Hidden Fortress are to horrorcore rap what Sam Raimi’s “Army of Darkness” is to horror films: intelligently integrated in the genre without taking it all too seriously. Sure, the beats sound like they were produced in a cave and the blood and guts storylines are all in place, but DJ UsdNeedls and MC nofutureface use the genre as a platform to express poignant thoughts rather than twisted desires.
Their self-titled debut is conceptually over-the-top enough to have humor but musically it demands to be taken seriously. UsdNeedls’ clean breaks are layered with dark synth bass and somewhat random samples which give the instrumentals a scattered sound. Nofutureface’s monotones echo against these untamed beats, a wild storyteller weaving tales of cadavers, braineaters and burning hot lava.
But between the lines of bloody lyrics – When i bite in the results are clear and the blood that spills travels far from here – are sobering ideas. “I, Braineater” may talk about eating, well, brains but its depth lies in philosophical meanderings like Can’t really cope with times, wonder if the thoughts in your head are mine/ or they might be ours in the plural sense, so if the gates close shut then we scale the fence.
Hidden Fortress may just be 2 guys from Vancouver but there’s something to their sound: having toured Japan with DJ Krush and soon to release their first full-length album, they are surely a force to be reckoned with in Canada’s underground hip-hop scene.
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