Out Of The Cage: “The Cold Vein” Review

Combining Hip Hop’s underground heavy weight ‘El-P’, of Company Flow fame and two very talented New York underground artists ‘Vast Aire’ and ‘Vordul Mega’ comes one of the freshest albums in Hip Hop. Many purists will tell you Company Flow’s ‘FunCrusher Plus’ was a classic in it’s own right due to the unique production and stylized battle lyrics done by El P and Big Juss, and with this you’ll also get the “there’s no album that broke ground like this one”. Well, while Cold Vein may not have broken this ground, it’s just delved deeper.

Now, you’re probably wondering, what’s the recipe to what I’ve already summed up as a genius album? Top notch production and some of the finest lyrics ever heard on a Hip Hop album. Vordul Mega’s style is laced with multiple-syllable flows and a dash of abstract metaphors pertaining to his depressing views on life. Now, to be honest Vordul isn’t the reason this album is still playing on my stereo, his lyrics are good but they don’t have the same level of uniqueness as Vast Aire’s do. However, without Vordul’s input on this album, it wouldn’t feel right. Vast Aire, while not having the incredible flow that Vordul does, makes up for it with his charismatic delivery and genius wordplay. Each track, he laces his lyrics with some of the wittiest line’s I’ve heard in Hip Hop thus far. Lines from Iron Galaxy such as: “You were a stillborn baby, mother didn’t want you but your were still born, boy meets world of course his pops is gone, what you figga, that chalky outline on the ground is a father figure?” leave my jaw still dropping.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Iron Galaxy
The second you hear this track, you’ll notice how “spacey” this beat sounds. However, once the lyrics start (by Vordul of course) it gives it a more “depressing” outlook. After Vordul’s verse is done, you get to the real meat of the track: Vast Aire. The second he spat on this track, I was a fan of Cannibal Ox. His delivery and lyrics won me over in an instant. Definitely one of the nicest tracks on this album.

2. Ox Out the Cage
Another genius track, however El-P starts the lyrics off this time with some hip hop/pop culture references with genius lines starting the already stellar production off to branch into more gold. Then comes Vast’s verse which once again proves, you don’t need multis to sound fluent, with his slow but enjoyable delivery. Vordul comes in a nice flow and a lot of message based on the life he’s living and what he’s seeing, however in a less depressing manner then other tracks on this album.

3. Atom
This track has guest appearances by Alaska and Cryptic One from the group “Atoms Family”. Cryptic spits with an impressive flow and Alaska has some very nice lines, however I didn’t enjoy Vordul and Vast on this as much as the other tracks.

4. A B-Boy’s Alpha
This track starts out with a “funeral” style sound effect done through synth, and then built upon with a very spacey atmosphere. Vast Aire drops another stand out verse, with lines like “Made you wonder about early, sunday morning, relatives dressed in black and they all mourning” then comes Vordul’s verse which is spat for the remainder of the track which is done in a more nostalgic approach. Another stand out track on this album.

5. Raspberry Fields
Done with a battle rap approach, this track’s futuristic sound intertwined with Vast and Vordul’s unique styles give it yet another “original” approach as apposed to the normal battle rap styles you’re used to hearing. Lines such as “Every goose I lay, stay golden” make this yet another stand out track.

6. Straight Off The D.I.C.
Done with less of a battle approach, but more of boasting for the group and their label. Production is more laid back, with again some very unique lines and such. However, I felt Vordul’s verse stood out this time, as his flow worked nicer and some of his lines were nicer then Vasts. Lines like, “We trying to gain freedom like a tribe in Tibet, Starving niggas had to still spit it live on the set” were stand out.

7. Vein
This track, is nice but I think Vordul again stood out here. Vast fell off on this one. Using a more corny approach this time around, and his flow felt kind of off. Vordul however, had some nice lines on his first verse with quotable such as: “Trapped in the desert with eagles”.

8. The F-Word
Another stand out track. However, Vordul only has the chorus for this one while Vast spits pure genius through-out the whole entire song. This is a love song, but definitely not in the traditional sense. Laced with heavy wordplay and abstract lyricism, this is a track that elevates lyricism beyond anything I ever encountered in Hip Hop before. If you can’t manage to hear this track, look up the lyrics; The wordplay and imagery through-out this track keep my head spinning.

9. Stress Rap
Vordul raps with a depressing overtone, and Vast works with pop culture references to get his message across. Both have notable lines on this track, the beat works very well helping convey Vordul and Vasts messages.

10. Battle For Asgard
Featuring guest appearances by L.I.F.E. Long and C-Rayz Wall, Personally I wasn’t liking L.I.F.E. Long’s verse on this, kinda took me out of it at first, however once Vordul spat it just got better as the song went along. C-Ray stood out most on this though, his flow was nice and his approach to the subject matter was really nice.

11. Real Earth
Another track featuring only Vast Aire, and yet another track demonstrating his amazing grasp of words to mend a “I’m the best” track, with some message thrown in. Another amazing song on this album.

12. Ridiculoid
This track features El-P yet again, and he spits with his traditional “futuristic” style of rhyming and drop with a lot of a nice lines. Vordul gives input on his life growing up, and moves into using some nice wordplay. Vast Aire raps yet again with some very witty lines such as: “I still remember the days of Coleco, a daily struggle but I hold onto the vision”.

13. Painkillers
Another favorite of mine on this album, the beat starts off very mesmerizing almost nauseating, with a slow approach in the synth. Vast starts the song off with another amazing approach to his content through the use of wordplay and imagery. He relates the use of medicines to rap and his life, and spits amazing lyrics such as: “I guess that’s why I was born, to recognize the beauty of a roses thorn”. Vordul’s is more a straight up approach to the subject matter, rapping about doing drugs and rapping, done with a somewhat depressing matter. Yet again, another stand out track on this album.

14. Pigeon
Another genius track, again one of my “favorite” songs from this album. Both Vast and Vordul drop stellar on this one. Vast Aire, uses the ideology of how birds work relating to the lifestyle he’s used to viewing. Vordul drops with another “depressing” style of verse, but done in an abstract manner. Yet another amazing track from this album.

15. Scream Phoenix
This track served as a bonus on this album. It’s the elevation of the song Pigeon, not a remix but a different song that builds off of the concepts in Pigeon. Vordul’s verse is nice, but Vast’s lyrics are genius. Honestly, I didn’t understand them; only until listening several times had I realized what they truly meant. One of the most unique tracks of this album, and yet again another stand out track.

So, I’ve summed up every single track all that’s left for you is to go and purchase or download this album. Now, you’re probably going to notice I used “genius” or “stand out” a lot. Well you know what, thats all this album is, and thats an understatement. Too many people are focused on specific aspects of rap, but this album melded them together with perfection. Now, when I first heard Cannibal Ox, I wasn’t very fond of them. But once I started understanding the lyrics, It was like a gold mine, I thought I had stumbled upon a fortune of some sort. Never have I heard lyrics as unique since FunCrusher Plus, Vast and Vordul elevated lyrics from the normal standard and dropped with an album that hadn’t let out for any of it’s tracks. Every song on this album is amazing, every track is unique, all with amazing production done by El P. If you consider yourself a Hip Hop head, you owe it to yourself to listen to this album at least once.

10/10: This album doesn’t let go of you, using lyrics that work to the highest level’s of lyricism and some of the most amazing production since 36 Chambers. This album is a must buy.

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein (Amazon.com)

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Posted by LostMoniker on September 14th, 2008 :: Filed under Out Of The Cage: Album Reviews
Tags :: cannibal ox, classic, company flow, def jux, el-p, funcrusher plus, hip hop, review, vast aire, vordul mega
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