Ramson Badbonez - Mic Day The 13th - OLS Review

Badbonez is back once again with horrorcore concept album of old-school 'spooky' themes mashed into contemporary production styles titled; Mic Day The 13th

Leaping from the ethereal and varied dream-like scenes of Hypnodic, Mic Day The 13th zeroes in on a solidified underworld setting into which the different topics he chooses to talk about are dragged kicking and screaming. The whole album feels like it's going on in various sections of a single location - take your classic horror game's 'remote island' with a derelict mansion' setting and replace it with a local underground venue. It's certainly an unconventional twist of sounds that call back to films that by today's standards are cheesy, flipped around by Ramson un-ravelling the bandages of the reanimated humours mummies to reveal much more concerning present day racists and homophobes.

Ramson Badbonez brings in the experimental flows we expect of him, and really pushes it on this one. Stuttering Psychopath is unlikely to be for everyone, and I'll be honest, I can't figure out what it means, though the title does suggest that was the intention all along. Other tracks, though still playing with a variety of flows, are a lot more direct. You get a good set of references to what boils Badbonez blood in Halloween Rap Regime delivered in an ever-varied flow. Followed up by Machete Madness where he blows his lid and draws more blood and guts than a demon-themed anime from the bodies of the aforementioned racists and powerful icons of injustice in our world, over an instrumental that put that anime idea in my head from the start. If Hypnodic was an album where Ramson finds clarity in the chaos, Mic Day The 13th represents an unaddressed tumour of anger erupting from the depths of his soul and ripping everyone in its path to ribbons.

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Production is shared among four artists; the appropriately named Skeleton Key and Mark Fear Beats, with Illinformed and Jazz T. Old school horror vibes are utilised in tracks like Ghouls & Goonies and Sticks & Stones to create post-modern stomping beats to compliment Ramson's vibe and set an ideal backing track for his army of marching skeletons. Other tracks carry a much more modern collection of synths and to mention the central duo-tracks again; Halloween Rap Regime includes crashing symbols which in my experience are really under used in the rap genre, followed by Machete Madness which is like a contemporary take on the intro tracks to the Streets of Rage games on the Sega Megadrive. The style shifts seamlessly from track to track and they are all very much engaging. This album is a hardcore collection and does not want to see any listeners leaning back... Or looking back (He's behind you).

Any track you pull from this album will stand strong on its own, but once again, Ramson Badbonez has released a collection you will want to experience all at once. Like any well-made horror, it's a rush to sit through and get fully immersed into with the lights off!
Mic Day The 13th drops on 31/01//2019 but is already up for Pre-Order on Vinyl, CD, and Tape over at the High-Focus store! You can also check out two music videos; Sticks & Stones and Face Down Floating, to get an appetizer of this heavy release!

- Fire@Will - OneLion Sound

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