Blood Of The Lamb

Wow, who could have expected this? A brand new album by the default duo standard in the game! The pair who turned into legendary status with their ‘Gucci Ghost’ series only to come back and achieve the same status for the second time with this new selection of drops that keeps the game on notice! So with that in mind let’s talk about it! This is the brand new album between Mc Mickey Diamond and Producer Big Ghost Ltd and together they drop this heavy handed 43 minute, 12 track score that features fellow Umbrella solider -Danielson In continuous energy as the other three that dropped we have another bombshell effort by both men in creating a trademark underground boom Bap sound that the world went frantic for in the mid 2010’s and they know there’s still a heavy market for the sound that only they can create and harvest! In this record we hear Big Ghost with could be considered his most versatile production effort yet. Not necessarily in the samples or influences but in the way he’s executing things such as the editing of Mickey’s vocals into a cut and scratch fashion combined with a few vocal shifts and loops that gives this album a more ‘experimentalM vibe compared to any other they’ve dropped together yet! A few tracks that stood out to me above the rest are as followed. Firstly we have -Practice What You Preach this song brought me right back to the early 2000’s days. Those prime Clipse era instrumental with those heavy chord progression, rhythmic drums, that light soulful vocal harmonies in the background and some sickening bass! This is trademark old school era and if it was any question If Mickey could rock one of those beats it’s put to rest with this one! There’s tracks like -PREYers which starts off with this gospel heavy tune that has this pastor speaking to his ‘flock’ and the song evolves into this eerie and raw instrumental that consists of those shredding strings, sharp chords in the background and some hypnotic drums! This might be minimal but it gives straight menacing vibes! Absolutely killer There’s even the track -Cold Sweats which once again has that gospel intro that transforms into this sheer brutal track that features those high pitch keys in that loop that’s combined with those subtle strings and heavy drums! I love this one because it’s so stripped back and skeletal but it’s in these types that it best highlights Big Ghost’s talents and especially Mickey’s performances the best! Speaking of the man. They say pressure makes ‘DIAMONDS’ well he’s never had an easy day in his life because he’s been Diamond for the last decade and more. In this album we hear him utilise his classic tone, rapping style that the culture has come to embrace and also a bit of new territory that I haven’t heard from him yet. In this I mean tracks like -Cold Sweats among others where we hear his vocal style and range differ in what sounds to be a more emotional tone then we are use to! It sounds like something is heavy on his mind and that flux of energy coming to the verses is obvious compared to the other bars. I liked to hear this because he’s purposely giving us a ‘something new’ incorporated into his usual routine of tough, ruthless bars that’s filled with clever one liners and puns for you to have to replay 2-3x over to catch all of them! On this one he really is bringing to light his infamy, calling back to those early 2010 years when fans would argue was his best era and using this album to remind fans that he never changed up, his quality has always been at peek and his albums have always been critically acclaimed! This is a fusion of matured and pride stricken Diamond. Because he knows he’s been integral to the landscape of the culture, he knows he and the fellow Umbrella Collective have paved the way sonically and stylistically for a lot of the new generation acts we see today but he’s also aware that there’s alot that forget just how consistent and strong he’s been way past and before the ‘Gucci Ghost’ series and this album feels like a proper ‘Reality check’ to those doubting! I also have to give a big shoutout to the song featuring Daniel Son. To hear these two lyrical beasts go back and forth was a dream to experience! Absolutely love it! This is the kind of track that’s a fever dream to the deep underground culture audience! Once again another solid record between these two. They didn’t disappoint nor have they ever! It’s straight bars on bars with phenomenal production to match! If you ain’t tapped into this one then you’re missing out!