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Lincoln’s Ritual brings his skills to the table with the release of this 8 track CD ‘The Crusade of the Lyrical Avenger’ so what does he have to offer the hip-hop buying public? After a pointless intro, ‘I Wreck a Rapper’ kicks in with heavy drums and a wicked, dark sample, ideal battle rhyme material and that’s exactly what Ritual gives us. Ill lyrics are served by the way of, “constant metaphors sucking syphilis tits” while he “shoots you in the nuts with a gun butt”, these are delivered with a venomous sting. Out Da Ville’s C-Mone interjects after each verse with some squeaky voiced ad-libs, which become somewhat annoying, still it’s a good track and a fine way to stamp his authority upon the EP at this early stage. ‘The Stereo Suicides’ begins with a nice sample and a rolling beat. Again Ritual brags his way throughout, though this is a twist upon the traditional battle track as he announces his “system with your music inside my stereo gets depressed and tries to commit suicide” and explains the reasons why his music system would want to top itself throughout the track. Some wicked lyrics are spat here, with a comfortable flow although I think some of the words need a heavier pronunciation and the beat does become monotonous, as it is merely a loop with no change ups. ‘Demon Eyed Brainiac’ kicks off with some rough n’ready drums and eerie sample, and again more battle lyrics from Ritual. The beat quickly becomes boring; again it’s a straight loop with no change ups. With his sick lyricism he can’t be faulted in this department, though the monotony of the beat means my interest in what he has to say greatly decreases. Track 5 ‘Relentless if Defenceless’ is on similar tip to the last track, he declares “I wanna see people dying at my shows” over a dark beat which plods along until its finish, the production ensures it’s a difficult task getting to the end of the track, which is unfortunate as with dope production Ritual would blaze it. ‘The Reaction Part II’ picks things up a bit after the mid-CD lull where he announces “at this part of the CD, it’s time to get some off that shit off my chest” over an excellent bass which evokes memories of music used in 80s TV shows like Knight Rider or Street Hawk, wicked stuff. The lyrics are of the in your face variety and ends with the classic line “fuck being a gimp I work in porn as a minge tester”. The production is the nicest so far and his impeccable breath control impresses me no end. Unfortunately ‘U know that’s Ritual’ is another plodder of a beat, again dope rhymes of a horrocore persuasion are presented to the listener, but to be honest there’s not much else to say about this tune that hasn’t been said previously in the review. The EP comes to a conclusion with ‘Lyrical Asylum’ featuring a verse from Nottingham’s Cappo. A tight beat kicks in with nice chorus “I’ll fuckin’ pile drive the queen at the royal rumble” unsurprisingly Ritual kicks more battle shit, “you’re falling off like a legless man on a bike” is one of the lyrical highlights. Cappo takes over for the second verse, you know from the first few bars that he’s gonna kill it with those ill vocals, he duly complies. Ritual rounds things off over an unchanging beat. Overall this a decent release from Ritual, as detailed he needs more varied production and subject matter and a clearer pronunciation in his delivery in order to make a real mark upon the scene. However he displays he has a wealth of lyrical talent and burgeoning production ability (he produced every track himself with the exception of ‘The Stereo Suicides’ which was produced by Instinct from Out Da Ville), therefore it’ll be interesting to see what he comes up with for his next release. Definitely one to look out for.
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Ritual The Crusade of the Lyrical Avenger
EP