At this point, Guerrilla Alliance should be a staple in your
hip hop education. Vega X and Macabean the Rebel have been blessing the masses
with knowledge and eliminating the fake fraudulent false rappers for a couple
albums now, and Empire of Fear is yet
another gem in their catalog. As they continue to progress in their quest to
inform those who are still sleeping on the realities of the world, their music
only keeps getting better. Once again they have crafted an album full of raw
rhymes and dark production that will have you exploring lost caves in search of
the truth.
After a neck breaking intro, Guerrilla Alliance waste no
time as their tear apart “The War Scroll”. Next up is a tribute to their fallen
friend, Vee Eye, and following that is the first of many highlights on this
album as the beat for “Ghost in the Machine” fades in and lyrical exercises
commence. Joining VX and Mac on “Alliance of Peril”, Lone Ninja is just one of the
many guests who contribute greatly to Empire
of Fear’s deep bench of role players perfectly positioned to help Guerrilla
Alliance spread their message. “Megiddo” and “Omerta” are both Guerrilla
Alliance staple tracks which are perfect examples of exactly how Vega X and
Macabean shine together and provide music that makes you think as well as beats
you in the head with knowledge.
Where this album really kicks into overdrive is on “Scimitar”
as Highdro and Tehutimo both contribute ridiculous verses and Vega especially
shines over a beat so hard it will make you wanna smack an old lady square
across the face for no reason at all. “Eye 4 An Eye” with Block McCloud and
Black Earth with Rasul Allah7 only further the climb this album takes with more
great guest features and a feeling that something big is on its way. Then, if
the epic samples and even more epic beat of “Predatory Spiritualism” aren’t enough
to have you slammed against the wall like those old Maxwell cassette tape commercials,
Chief Kamachi rolls through and blazes through the song to provide more support
to the Guerrilla Alliance team.
You knew the best was yet to come and “Ordo Ab Chao” is
exactly that. The beat alone is a furious journey that feels like a battle
happening right in front of you, Macabean and Vega both come as correct as
possible and do the solid production justice and just when you think you’ve
been defeated by an army of machete wielding soldiers, the great Canibus
launches into a verse that sounds like it’s 1997 all over again and he’s hungry
to break into the game. Say what you want about Canibus, but he absolutely
bodies this track.
Sometimes labeled as conspiracy theory rap, what Guerrilla
Alliance accomplishes with Empire of Fear
is providing a musical soundscape that combines both the book heavy thought
provoking raps about the Illuminati and battlegrounds comparable to the movie “300”
with classic hardcore production and overall great rhyme skills. The verbal
styles of Mac and VX are very different but they complement each other
perfectly, and both make the beats their own as they tackle the cathedral like
production. Having heard “Guerrilla Warfare” as well as Vega’s solo records and
various mixtapes, it is safe to say that Empire
of Fear is Guerrilla Alliance’s greatest project thus far and absolutely
needs to be ingested and digested and kept on repeat to catch all of the
brilliance contained within.
