Album of the day: NECRO The Pre-Fix For Death

The idea of “rap-metal” has always been a bit of white whale: it seems cool on paper, but of the many, many, many artists who have tried to pull it off, it almost none have pulled it off. The reason why, in my opinion, is because they always come at it from one side or the other and try to graft on the other. It usually comes off as really corny, forced and just basically shitty– for example “I’m The Man.”

One of few notable exceptions to this is “The Pre-Fix For Death” by NECRO, released back in 2004. It’s basically the perfect fusion of underground rap and old-school death metal, with the key ingredient being that the elements of each genre are good enough to stand on their own. NECRO is a legitimately sick rapper in his own right, and the guests he brings in from the metal side include names like VOIVOD, HATEBREED, SLIPKNOT, NUCLEAR ASSAULT and OBITUARY. Pretty hard to fuck with that lineup, right??

It’s definitely not for the “art metal” crowd, because NECRO is one of the scummiest people on the planet and his lyrics reflect it, but as far as a fusion of death metal and rap, I don’t think it’s been equalled.

“Insaneology” ft/ HATEBREED, OBITUARY and NUCLEAR ASSAULT

This is the death metal band NECRO and his brother ILL BILL were in back in the late 80s, when they were in high school. If this came out today on whatever label Decibel currently fawns over, people would worship it as “the next MORBID SAINT.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bQOKBK2jxo

About half of the album is just straight rap like most of NECRO’s catalog. He’s not exactly the most PC guy on the planet, but his lyrics and flow are as legit as it gets (video is kinda NSFW for butts and cleavage).

Bonus track: one of the most advanced songs ever, “UBS (Unauthorized Biography of Slayer)” by NECRO’s brother ILL BILL. It’s, well, a short version of SLAYER’s biography. Strong title : content ratio.

Buy “The Pre-Fix For Death” on Amazon