ALBUM REVIEWS

High Priest, Invocation

Magnetic Eye highpriestchicago.bandcamp.com/album/invocation

A lot of contemporary heavy metal greats are missing something crucial: a sense of melody. That’s where local four-piece High Priest really stand out. The band members are no strangers to making punishing music—guitarist John Regan and drummer Dan Polak also play in death-metal-influenced hardcore outfit Like Rats, and guitarist Pete Grossman helps run Bricktop Recording, a studio specializing in ridiculous heaviness. On their new record, Invocation (Magnetic Eye), High Priest hammer out stonery, doomy, Sabbath-style galloping riffs with ease, pumping monster grooves through crushing walls of amplifiers. But the best part of Invocation is that it’s incredibly catchy. Bassist and vocalist Justin Valentino croons like a less salty Danzig, adding a hint of sunny sweetness to the layers of destruction. Lead single “Divinity,” with its humongous hooks and a swing-for-the-cheap-seats chorus, is one of the most merciless earworms I’ve heard all year; I’ve already listened to it more times than I can count. Invocation isn’t quite a pop record, but if you’ve been itching for something that fits in with your other heavy shit and also lets you sing along, it’s going to be right up your alley.

—LUCA CIMARUSTI

legend DJ Rude One join forces to make magic on The ONEderful Nephew. Rude One is a student of the old school with cosigns from 90s hip-hop royalty (including Kool G Rap and Doom, who appear on his 2016 record, ONEderful), while RXK Nephew represents an emerging wave of underground rap that disregards conventional wisdom. But though the two artists come from different musical worlds, Neph’s brash flow and abrasive lyrics mesh well with Rude’s grimy boom-bap style.

The record sets up its villainous aura perfectly from the start. On opener “F**k Yo’ Set,” Neph punches listeners in the face with blatantly disrespectful bars over Rude’s dark, sinister beat. The track feels fit for a horror movie, but it’s hard not to laugh when Neph delivers “How you 50 with a 12-year-old boy chest?” with his characteristic iconoclastic charm.

Anyone expecting intricate rhyme schemes is given a giant metaphorical middle finger when Neph raps, “I’m not about to get on a beat and rap like Conway.” He’s referring to Griselda Records lyricist Conway the Machine, who’s known for his throwback style—but RXK Nephew walks to the beat of his own drum, and you can take it or leave it.

The album’s standout third track, “Black Ice,” might best exemplify what Neph and Rude One’s synergy feels like when it hits on all cylinders. Neph paints an absurd, vividly detailed heist story over a hypnotic, hollow drum loop, and listening to the track feels like being strapped into the passenger’s seat of a getaway vehicle.

Closed Sessions djrudeone.bandcamp.com/album/the-onederfulnephew

In a meeting of generations, rising New York-based rapper RXK Nephew and Chicago underground

Neph often raps (and sometimes yells) about outrageous criminality and conspiracy theories, and his blunt approach can be jarring. If you’re used to the polished, formulaic sounds peddled on the radio and DSP playlists, The ONEderful Nephew might be an acquired taste—but fans of the dark grit and grime that thrives in hiphop’s underground are sure to fi nd it impeccable.

—ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ v