Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

This Icelandic trio has produced their first mainstream effort here, predominantly hip hop based, it is industrial techno, blending into mainstream rap rock. With it comes the invariable comparisons to bands such as Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys, complete with dual vocalists to give it that nu metal edge. Fronted by three rappers, words are passed back and forth in typical fashion, with their own unique rock flavor, with obscure samples and distorted, loud guitars, they throw in enough hip hop and funk to be popular to a range of fans.

The CD starts out strong with songs like “Stick ‘Em Up”, and my favorites off this effort “"Mr. Jinx," with its catchy chorus and mixture of horn, xylophone, and guitar sampling, and the funk heavy "Baseline", with a heavy and addicting bass line. This is followed by “Malone Lives”, another dance worthy track, a leg stomping rock groove with catchy rap vocals. Next up is a ‘70‘s kick back song with a groovy feel and a shakin bass line, the band wanders into experimental territory here with “Tarfur”, a percussion-heavy funk track that's recorded in Icelandic, followed by the much harder, heavier “Copy Cat”, a track that switches to headbangin, instead of hip shakin, it reminds me a bit of Saliva, with a unique twist, it is rap laden but with a metal crunch to it. I love the organ back line and the drops and changes.

Things pick up a bit on track 8, titled “Weirdo” with its vicious rap, and “F*$ck You Puto“, with its catchy intro and heavier beat it showed their bad side, and then they truly captivated me with their 11th song on this 12 track offering, titled “Dive in”, they slow things down and show us their melodic side, great vocals, a very cool song with a unique tone, different then all the rest of the songs I have heard here, finishing off in the same tone with their final epic, “Bless”, blending in a little disco hip hop, an instrumental trip interwoven with flute of all things.

I will admit they lost me a bit mid cd, but gained it back at the end with a bouncy, rap finish. The album is well produced, with ingenious sampling, programming, bass drops, crunchy guitars, funky bass lines all dropped into one neat little package. Diverse and creative are two words that fittingly describe the bands style as they traverse a wide range of territory touching upon metal crunch, pulsing industrial, funky hip hop and at times even a bit of pop. This is not an album for your kids folks, but for dance loving grown ups it’s a good buy.