“Save you? There is no saving you. There is no saving any of us now. It’s too late. The Nothing has arrived…”
This week, I’ve been given the privilege of getting an early listen, sneak preview of RazoR‘s newest full-length album, The Nothing. As the first part of a proposed trilogy (or, as they are referring to it, Slash:1) of releases known as The Neverending Gory, this long-anticipated follow-up album is easily the duo’s best work to date.
Now, I don’t say that lightly; RazoR’s previous releases, 2016’s All Hail tha RazoR and 2019’s HeaRtless, are very solid albums that have a myriad of great tracks. Upon listening to The Nothing in its entirety twice now, however, there is no denying that they’ve stepped up their game exponentially.
This can be seen in all aspects of the project, too; Not only are there absolutely no “skipper” tracks, but everything from the selection of the beats to the crispness of the mixing and mastering is proof of what I’m alluding to. Hell, even the peek at the album’s artwork that I was offered has proven to me that Tha Roka and Sin Rip aren’t going to be pulling any punches with their craft moving forward.
As I began listening to The Nothing and the tracks played one by one, I quickly realized that it was going to be an extremely difficult task to choose just one favorite song from the bunch. It has been my experience that no matter what album I am listenening to, no matter the artist, how much I may like or even love them, there is always going to be a track or two that I find to be skippable. Seemingly impossibly, that is not the case here. I honestly can’t even recall a time when this last occurred.
If, gun to my head, or maybe more appropriately in this scenario, razor to my throat, I was forced to choose my absolute favorites, I may say tracks like “D.T.O.,” “God Complex,” and “Why So SeRious” are the standouts. I can easily see those favorites being an ever-changing thing with subsequent listens, however, so ask me again in a week or two and lets see what my answers are then.
“You fucking bitch, don’t ever test me, better show respect. If not, I grab you and I snap your motherfucking neck. And what’s next? Watch your soul rise up out your chest. You in the clutches of the fiends that desire death…”
In a day and age where people’s attention spans are ever diminishing and artists are catering to this by creating shorter songs or releasing shorter albums, RazoR is hitting fans with a beautifully-crafted album that contains 15 tracks [including an intro and outro] clocking in at roughly 48 minutes. To me, this is almost the ideal length, as it’s long enough to listen to during perhaps a bit longer work commute, but not too long that I would need to split up my listening to more than one sitting with every playthrough.
Additionally, there isn’t any oversaturation when it comes to other artists appearing on the album. The Nothing features RazoR’s fellow LSP roster mates ClaAs, Smallz One, and Insane Poetry, and that is all. Another fantastic decision on the duo’s part, if you ask me.
Listen, I know everyone has their own opinion, especially when it comes to horrorcore and the underground. You don’t have to take my word for it, but please, when the album officially drops sometime in September, give it a listen and see for yourself. I can guarantee if you weren’t a fan of Roka and Sin of RazoR before, you will certainly change your mind by the end of The Nothing…