Arguably misunderstood, there’s no debating that Necro has been an independent hip hop fixture since the late 90′s. His label, Psycho+Logical-Records has controlled hip hop’s hypocenter for years by seismicly bullying the epicenter of the underground, thus, shifting the Richter and upping the antee on splatter rappers worldwide. Necro’s fifth studio album, Death Rap, is 14 tracks of you getting murdered in every way imaginable. Koch Distribution went out on a limb with this release. A mere thirty eight minute album chock-full of contributions from metal legends and label mates, the album seems to fall short of a full release and comes-and-goes as quick as watching a thirty minute sitcom. Though amusingly aggressive and disregarding length, this release doesn’t hold a match to The Pre-Fix For Death.

The album is opened with, “Creepy Crawl”, a night stalking adventure that Richard Ramirez would be proud of. With a story that rivals the Sharon Tate murders, Necro is the modern Tex Watson as he creeps into your house to do Satan’s business. As the Charles Manson interview sample shuffles you away from that two minute sadistic crime scene, you stumble right into “No Remorse”. The chorus does just as it says; punches you dead in the face. There’s a monestary chant in the background underlaying Necro’s crisp, brutal delivery of militant lyrics that reflect times of war, and him of course killing you again. A great Ipod jam for those late night jogs through the park, ladies.

There are definitely album hang-ups like, “Revenge”, a slow and boring piano sample accented with random and, at points, double-time drums that play behind the laziest chorus Necro has probably recorded to date. Harley Flanagan of the Cro-Mags is featured on “Belligerent Gangsters” as much as Chuck D is featured on that one Immortal Techique song. When Necro’s not “squeezing muskets like Ceasar Augustus”, the creepy strings take the track’s spotlight. “Suffocated to Death” by God’s Shadow is the most complicated song on the album. Mike Smith, the drummer from the death metal band Suffocation, joins forces with Lamb of God guitarist, Mark Morton and legendary bass guitarist, Steve DiGiorgio of Testament and Death Autopsy fame. Lead vocalist, Brian Fair of Shadows Fall manhandles the microphone like a speeding buick slamming into a fruit wagon. Necro plays with a few rhyme styles including double-time. Fellas, pick those weights up!

Necro never fails in expressing the highs and lows of his his death rap persona. On “Mutilate the Beat Necro” shows us his sense of humor with laugh-out-loud cracks on Aaron Neville and admitting he has “more fucked up lines than you could possibly count”. These writings arn’t Hemmingway, but that’s what makes Necro fun, at times like this. That two minute snapper leads us into, “Keep on Driving”, a personal favorite song on Death Rap. His “untimate focus is who won’t live”, with an exciting chorus encouraging you to keep on driving. Necro plays that person waiting down the road. A clash of mutilations happening from every angle. A goulish creature when the full moon hits, he is fresh out of the sanitarium and off crazy train and slaughters his way to a farm road on a trespass with Willie Nelson playing in the background. “Warriors, the serial killer version”. Necro’s vocal samples cut over the space station beat on “Technition of Execution” sound more cdj-generated than those on Gza’s, “Fame” 12″. His futuristic lyrics are presise and exact, though the cadence is masked by punch-in after punch-in.

The self proclaimed, King Crimson brings in Adam Jackson on “Keeping it Real”, his most personal song on Death Rap. On this song he fuses metal and hip hop seamlesly, which hasn’t always been the case with Necro. Mr. Hyde pays a visit on “Exploitation”, where he shows us that he’s came a long way since Barn of the Naked Dead. The choppy piano, western saloon sounding track that Necro cooked up is amazing. Think Primo circa 97′. A shame the song is less than a minute and a half. “As Deadly as Can Be” is as close as you’re going to get to a Blood Brothers album in 2007. Ill Bill and Necro are control motivators who always write the chronicles of Hell. Scott Ian, the legendary guitarist of Anthrax, Fates Warning vocalist, Ray Adler and bass guitarist, Dave Ellefson, of Megadeth and Ministry fame alongside with Necro show us all that Evil Rules. Still. This Death Rap banger is another example of Necro getting bigger than Satan. It seems like the melodic, “Forensic Pathology” was just meant to be. Necro details scientific anatomy modifications from a dim lit jazz bar. “Dead Body Disposal 2007″, the one minute version.

This album is a portrait of a death rapper. No more, no less. Like all of Necro’s albums, there’s never a shortage of gore, sex, and celebrity references that leave us all entertained. The upside of the album being shorter is it’s easier to listen to it in it’s entirety. The artistic downside is another Necro album with one core concept. Necro has proved he can rap on many levels with vast array of artists from many genres keeping his content geared towards the album theme only. That’s why he is still in the game making money hand over fist, with a Master P-like business perspective. Thousands of indie rappers compete every day trying to find a market that buys into the words they convey. Necro sits in his own throne and controls the Death Rap genre, where very few challenge and only an elite few gather. – Aaron James White