Dropping raspy flows over thick synth grooves and samples
from Warsaw and Eraserhead are surefire ways to get this indie hip-hop whore’s
temperature up. BLKHRTS are a Denver
outfit that bill themselves as “Goth Rap”.
While I’m not sure I buy that all the way down the line, it sure is
refreshing to hear a group that wears such odd inspiration on its collective
sleeve. Double-tracked vocals shift back
and forth between minor-melodic piano lines, sandpaper beats and three MC’s
that are aware of their skills in a good way.
There’s not enough work out there like this, with tracks like BLK
HRT, BLK CTY showing off a stuttering drum line over washed out,
early-era Goth synth sounds that lull you in until you realize you’re nodding
your head along with a Dirty South holler that would normally send you running
to your Dissection albums.
If nothing else, the only fault I can find in this album is
the rather uninteresting “party song” THS BLKHRTS PARTY which, while still
well produced and rapped, just rubs me the wrong way. This is one track on the EP I know for sure
would kill in a live show, but I can’t get behind it. The beat is thumpingly repetitive to the
point where it loses its effect and drowns out the rest of the production and
vocals. Fuck it, though. The EP is free, and this is a group that
reminds me a lot of Antipop Consortium (RIP), which is high praise from a guy
that has every word of Arrhythmia committed
to memory. BLKHRTS aren’t afraid to push
the envelope and use sounds that are off-kilter and experimental while still holding
down a three-man lyrical flow that would put other rap cadres to the test. Go get the EP and bang it in your mom’s
Caravan.
-Brandon
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