Ghostemane & Scarlxrd — LXRDMAGE — EP Review
Industrial | Hip Hop | Rap Metal
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
There's this weird realm of music at the moment that I’m currently really into; that being the industrial rap-metal sphere that’s been taking shape since roughly the mid-2010s.
This year though, I’ve namely been a big fan of the Wolverhampton artist named Scarlxrd, and the album he had put out earlier this year; Dxxm II. But even since then, Scarlxrd has kept pushing out more and more musical material (which seems to be typical of the rapper, given his discography).
The newest of his efforts is in fact a short collaborative project with the musical project of American artist Eric Whitney, known as Ghostemane, who was arguably one of the trailblazers of this intensely dark corner of the musical world.
I had also been following Ghostemane loosely for a fair amount of time (even seeing him perform briefly at Reading Festival). So with that said, it was nice to see these two great artists come together. Ghostemane has a habit of creating short collaborative EPs with other artists, and LXRDMAGE is no exception. In essence, it’s almost kind of a sign of respect that Ghostemane places.
But when I say “short collaborative EP”, I’m not using the term lightly. clocking in at under 8 minutes, with a total of three tracks, LXRDMAGE is a VERY short EP, one that I feel would more or less count as a single release if it was any shorter. As a result, it makes my job harder than usual to think of enough things to say about this EP to fill my review up to a satisfactory length.
Nevertheless, this EP is still an enjoyable listen, especially thanks to two of the three singles really bringing the heat. And while it may just be down to the two artists having very similar styles of music, I feel that LXRDMAGE really compliments both Ghostemane and Scarlxrd. It certainly homes in on the industrial aspect especially.
In fact, the energy that these two bring stands as pretty much the sole reason why I’m even reviewing this EP. Indeed, I hope to share this with people who may not have heard of either artist.
Beginning this EP is arguably the weakest of the three singles. And while “владыка” is far from a bad track, I feel that it's really the track’s pacing that keeps it from being as engaging as the following two tunes. It just felt like a very standard beat and didn’t wow me as much as a result.
The following track, however, is my current favourite of the three. “маг” could’ve easily just gone for the drum ’n’ bass style approach that it seemed to point to at the very beginning, but instead plays into that ebb and flow of intensity that I personally really enjoy.
Ending the EP is another awesome track, in the form of “ навсегда”. Although I felt this tune played on Scarlxrd’s strengths more so than Ghostemane’s.
While this EP was definitely shorter than most, it still stood as a solid and engaging listen, that I would recommend to anyone looking for something uniquely heavy.
Favourite Track: маг
Least Favourite Track: владыка
Blackmage Records
Enjoyment: ★★★★ | Memorability: ★★★ | Atmosphere: ★★★★
Uniqueness: ★★★★ | Satisfaction: ★★ | Narrative: ★★★
