Dies Occidendum

Since reactivating his Soul Assassins label in 2017, DJ Muggs has been on a remarkable hot streak, releasing albums with notable underground emcees like Roc Marciano and Mach-Hommy. These often brilliant records remain true to the dark, hazy sound Muggs pioneered with Cypress Hill back in the early 90s, while sounding fully relevant in the era of Griselda and Dump Gawd. This is all especially welcome considering how iffy the producers occasional forays into dubstep, trip-hop, and alternative rock have been. Donning his Black Goat alias, previously used for his collaborations with South African meme-rappers Die Antwoord, Muggs surprisingly surfaced on Sacred Bones in 2021 with Dies Occidendum, his first instrumental full-length. The albums ten tracks are filled with slow, lurching rhythms caked in soot and smoke, with macabre samples from old horror movies instead of rhymed verses. Much of the record wouldve been filed under the illbient subgenre if it had appeared in the mid-90s, as its not too far off from what Spectre and Prince Paul were cooking up for the WordSound label during that time, but theres also a major presence of skittering drum machines recalling trap at its grimiest. The Chosen One is essentially a witch house track, with ghostly moans and funereal organs spelling out doom underneath clattering beats. Nigrum Mortem is a tantalizing bit of heavy psych, with smoldering guitars and fuzzed-out organ brewing underneath big, choppy drums. Other tracks like Liber Null and Veni Vidi Amavi keep up the suspense with skillful beat changes, as well as harrowing movie clips. Sweeping string loops and sudden beat drops make Annica one of the albums most frightening moments, even if texturally it seems like one of the lightest tracks here, apart from the haunting piano interlude Alphabet of Desire or the closing piece Transmogrification, which mainly consists of chirping crickets and crackling flames. Its readily apparent that Muggs takes great joy in exploring the dark arts, and like his best work, Dies Occidendum is just as illuminating as it is grim and foreboding. ~ Paul Simpson

サイプレス・ヒル『Elephants On Acid』を経てここ数年はまた地下の実力派MCたちとのタッグ作を連発しているマグスが、ダイ・アントワード仕事の際に用いていた名義でセイクリッド・ボーンズからソロ作をリリース。今回は珍しく全編がインストで、サイケ・ロックやフォークなどから取り出した断片を不気味に重ね、渦巻くオルガンや声ネタを盛り込んでドープに響かせる黒山羊マナーが堪能できる。視覚的な音空間のヤバさが見事。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ