insane clown posse - the wraith shangri-la
well i never.
nu-rock rap in crises or is this 4 real ?
having watched icp from afar and never really been tempted into their circus of fun, i get to hear insane clown posse's 'final' instalment of the 6 jokers card (i suspect this is icp speak for 'album').
though the band have always come over as high quality entertainment - were i still an angst ridden mass of twisted hormones i suspect i would have fallen into their juggalos gang (icp-speak for 'fans' - i'm learning fast)
as ever the cover is adorned with the icp trademark face paints and logo'd chainsaws being brandished about .. but look closer there is a message being delivered here..
the music is standard nu metal fare with slight variations in variety.. the vocals are all of the rap shoutout-response type with little subtlety to the flow, but the beats are tight and funky and the guitars are loud and proud.
but, towards the end of the 17 tracks a heavy presence of melody begins to surface with chorus's and guitar solos.
hmmm ...
track 17 'the unveiling' does exactly as it says :
"who's behind the dark carnival, the gatherings and the hatchet ?" the duo sing in glorious harmony .
several other pointed remarks later
"when we speak of shangri-la what do you think we mean ? truth is we follow GOD, we've always been behind him"
all to the backing of 'we're not sorry if we tricked you' being chanted !
sheer madness ..
so there we have it -
the first nu-metal christian conversion album. with church sanctioned overdose of the f-word.
after all, icp dont want to alienate their core audience completely - just yet do they ..
all that aside i did enjoy the 65 minutes of guitar noise/rap far more than i expected. there is an naive appeal in this limited musical genre that brings back memories of the innocent early days of beastie boys frivolity. back then though, an inflated male appendage was their big shock and caused headlines .. now its god. the times are a changing.
next thing you know fred durst will be dating some superficial queen of pop and the so called underground youth movement of moshers will be crushed forever ..
surely not ?
icp are clowns after all ...