Album Review: Ho99o9 - Tomorrow We Escape
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
I suspect that like most people, my first exposure to the rap/metal concept was with the collaboration between Run DMC and Aerosmith in 1986 on the classic “Walk This Way”. Watching Anthrax’s Scott Ian on stage wearing Public Enemy t-shirts on stage, led me down a new path of discovery and my love affair for all things rap/metal began.
Of course, they went on to record the phenomenal “Bring The Noise” and that brought other bands to my attention such as Mordred, The Beastie Boys and 24-7 Spyz. Fast forward several generations, and Ho99o9 are taking things to another level and having appeared on stages with Slipknot, Cypress Hill and Ghostface Killah, they are armed with their explosive new album, “Tomorrow We Escape”.
Ho99o9 are theOGM and Yeti Bones and show no restrictions on this album. Creatively, they are bursting at the seams with genre defining songs that are going to blow people’s minds. Opening track “I Miss Home” is a soft, gentle, emotional song featuring MoRuf, that leads into the harder edged sound of “Escape”, which is full of high energy and tempo, and a proper kick ass hardcore drop.
I’ve not been fortunate enough to see the duo live yet, but I can only imagine what they must be like on stage. The synths that permeate through “Target Practice” indicate a nasty, angry song, and they are sticking two fingers up to the industry. As theOGM admits, “it came out of frustration” as he’s “unapologetically me” and that’s refreshing to hear in music. “Ok I’m Reloaded” is the duo at their finest, spitting out lyrics over a heavy beat and is everything that I admire about the band.
They manage to bring so much different angles to their music and when blended it works superbly well. “Psychic Jumper” is a simple song, with softer sung lyrics over a repetitive beat but breaks the album up, just in front of “Incline”. This bass heavy track features Yung Skrrt, Nova Twins and Pink Siifu, and will make you jump out of your seat and want to punch things. It’s high octane and Yeti Bones describes it as “the day the niggaz took over”. It’s a brilliant song, simple as that.
There’s an 80’s style intro to “Upside Down” before they interject with an echoed guitar over a melting melody. It’s catchy as hell and will have you moving on the dancefloor, as it’s accompanied by a rhythm that will pulverise your body. “Tapeworm” has a delectable drum n’ bass beat and features Grep Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan. It’s an angry, aggressive song that is played and sung at a blistering pace, which is in stark contrast to “Immortal” featuring Chelsea Wolfe. It’s a haunting, ghostly song, with more echoed guitars over a more subdued drumbeat, and theOGM acknowledges that “these are the sides of us you don’t normally hear”.
The final two tracks see an up-tempo, punk filled social commentary called “LA Riots” that rips along at a rapid pace just before a ticking clock leads the tempo for “Godflesh”. Then, boom!!! Off it goes. A barrage of fast riffs and double bass emerge as the duo talk about what’s happening in their country, with the anthemic chant of “Born Dead, God’s flesh”. They are bringing the noise back with a vengeance and not going away any time soon, so the rest of us had better get prepared for the onslaught.
