Red Right Recordings- 28 AUG 2020
When hip-hop does hardcore better than hardcore does hardcore
There has always been ties between hip-hop and hardcore, especially in their respective NYC scenes. The connection is evident in Ice-T and Body Count, Onyx working with Biohazard on “Slam” and “Judgement Night,” Skarhead, and now Creature. The NYC-based MC who has previously collaborated with the X-Ecutioners, Slug, and Rob Sonic among others is also the frontman for NYHC four-piece Rebelmatic. The quartet have released their latest Ghost in the Shadows as the inaugural release on Red Right Recordings, the label from Taking Back Sunday drummer Mark O’Connell and producer Daniel Wallace.
Rebelmatic does not shy away from current events, writing lyrics about the same issues the country has been facing and trying to hide from for the last 200-plus years. Creature growls in support of equality, freedom and justice, somehow finding a light in a far too long, far too dark tunnel called America.
The album kicks off with the gritty “Fire This Time” a searing indictment of convenient allies to the fight for equality; the kind of guys who don’t mind taking a stand for equality until it’s time to decide between raising a clenched fist and clenching the cash in their trust funds. Follow-up track “Born to Win” kicks off with a slowed punchy rhythm from bassist Karnage and drummer Ramsey Jones. This song infuses slam poetry into hardcore like it was Gil-Scott Heron opening up a mosh pit.
Being the perfect middle ground between the first two tracks “Blood and Gold” runs the gamut with gritty harmonizing, dog-pile inducing vocals and a killer solo from guitarist Alkatraz. The Madball-inspired “P.O.N.Y. (Product of New York)” is a frenetic ode to the city that never sleeps. This track cuts deepest for those who have sold their mixtapes outside the iconic Fat Beats Records and those of us who have taken the time to support the artists outside the basement shop on the Lower East Side.
That need to survive carries through on “Get It Off” as the band pen the anthem to bills outnumbering incomes and the need to remove the heavy chains of debt. “Show and Prove” returns Ghost in the Shadows to the straight hardcore feel of “Fire This Time” with a bruising breakdown that would have fit with any of the DMS crews of late-90’s NYHC. “Avenger” is another demonstration of Rebelmatic’s versatility. This cut finds the most melodic Creature on the record, not only dipping its toes into the post-hardcore waters, but screaming cannonball and jumping in with utter disregard for whomever might be in the splashzone.
Rebelmatic are not apologetic in their principles and their music is equally forthright in the way its emoted. I can not wait for this band to get the credit it deserves and perhaps to get a featured spot on a festival deserving of their abilities, somewhere between Rock the Bells and Hellfest if such a thing exists. If this is the type of record Red Right will be releasing with consistency, I think I’ve found a new catalogue I’ll be buying for the logo on the spine of the LP. And if this is the future of NYHC, I am so stoked to be able to be a part of it.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
