I rarely disagree with educated hip-hop heads. When somebody whom I trust gives me a recommendation for an album or makes a statement, I rarely take it with a grain of salt, but always listen to judge for myself. However, one thing that I can honestly say I disagree on with many hip-hop heads is the fact that a lot of people consider Killarmy (pronounced "killa army") a group of Wu-Tang wannabes. Umm... No, I think not. Typically, the argument that I get is that Killarmy, since they are Wu-Tang affiliates, are a miniature version due to their gritty, Rza-like production, descriptive lyrics, and street-wise subject matter. Albeit the musical soundscapes are alike, that doesn't make Killarmy a group of wannabes (or wanna-bees, if you will) at all. While Wu-Tang Clan specialize in everything, but mainly focus on bragging and battling, Killarmy is much more street oriented. Killarmy has the innate ability to craft excellent pieces of street poetry, riddled with war metaphors and a real distinct, stripped down atmosphere. While the beats are equally gritty, they don't contain that eclectic feeling and more or less just dark and brood-like. As for the lyrics, Killarmy pretty much can't hold a candle to the Wu-Tang Clan's elite (Killa, Gza, Deck, Rae), but then again, few can.

In 1997, Killarmy dropped Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars which is hailed a classic by a select group of people I disagree with. While the album was decent, it had more than just a handful of lackluster moments that lower it greatly. It's with that album that many considered them copycats, pretty much due to gritty production and battling. However as I said, if you scratch underneath the surface (like Gza), you'll see that Killarmy is much different than the core 9 members of the Wu-Tang Clan. The follow-up, Dirty Weaponry found the group trying even harder to step out of the shadows of the shaolin emcees. With more focus on originality and creativity, as well as beefing up their lyrics and getting 4th Disciple to handle the production, they may just do it.



Track List & Rating

1. Galactics (4 Stars)
2. Allah Sees Everything (4 1/2 Stars)
3. 5 Stages Of Consciousness (4 Stars)
4. Unite To Fight (4 1/2 Stars)
5. Murder Venue (4 Stars)
6. Doomsday (4 Stars)
7. Red Dawn (3 1/2 Stars)
8. The Shoot Out (5 Stars)
9. Bastard Swordsman (4 Stars)
10. Last Poet (4 Stars)
11. Serving Justice (4 Stars)
12. Where I Rest At (4 Stars)
13. Pain (5 Stars)



"Galactics" opens the album up and sets the stage for what we're going to hear right from the opening lines. We hear the voice of a young man describing his storied history with his father, who explained to him exactly why wars are seemingly essential to keep the world balanced, although he never fully understood until it was too late. 4th Disciple kicks it in with primarily bass-driven production with a few Rza-like sound effects to give the song that strong feeling of importance. Each emcee delves into his mind and pulls out sick yet intelligent battle rhymes based upon wars and weaponry, which is pretty much what we'll be hearing throughout the album. It's the absolute creativity of Killarmy that really keeps the album feeling fresh, however there is one major complaint that I have with this group, and that's 9th Prince. More on that later.

The album continues on the right path with "Allah Sees Everything", which is 4th Disciple at his best. A sombre, atmospheric mix of synthesized xylophone and soft bass make the song easy listening even for the pickiest hip-hop head. 4th Disciple's simple, yet effective production style is usually hit or miss, but luckily he gets more hits on here than not. Each of the emcees hit their mark with their semi-introspective battle lyrics (specially P.R. Terrorist), except of course, 9th Prince.

On paper, 9th Prince's lyrics look brilliant. He has a complex vocabulary and really spits knowledge. Only problem is, his flow is god-awful and proceeds to ruin every fucking song he is on. It's not that his flow is weak, but the fact that it's unlistenable and makes Silkk the Shocker feel like water. 9th proceeds to spit completely off beat, far too often trying to fit too many words on a bar, and just genuinely not "rapping" correctly, but rather just saying his lyrics. Another major problem 9th Prince has is the fact that he slurs and skips words far too often, sounding like an amateur. In my book, somebody who's rapping prowess is so annoying can really hurt the rating of an album.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say that if it weren't for 9th Prince, the album perhaps may have garnered a 4.5 or 5 Star rating. He ruins it that much. Hell, everybody else in Killarmy is great, and 4th Disciple delivers some of his best production ever. Look no further than "Unite to Fight" to hear an excellent beat. 4th Disciple laces a hard-hitting, gritty beat not unlike Rza's masterful work on Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). The eclectic sound samples (sword slashing and fighting game sound effects), backed by an Earth-shattering bassline and elongated strings make even the whackest on Killarmy (namely 9th Prince) sound masterful. Perhaps it's the beat that makes this song so Wu-Tang Clanish, but Killarmy themselves are no slouches on the microphone either: "As a rocket flare, I prepare for warfare, Destroying all the devil's ideas, while cowards run in fear, There's no retreating, no surrender, No victory, no peace, till the enemy is deceased, And the beast, cease to exist, from being devilish, Running from amongst us, only in God do I trust, so I bust to leaving bodies lying in the dust, Soldiers dying in their own iniquity... And hell is the penalty". This is strictly a Shogun Assassin / 9th Prince track, by the way.

"Doomsday" is one of the better tracks here primarily because of it's subject matter. Killarmy proceed to dismantle the dreaded enemy of commercialism with verse after verse with hard hitting lyrics and a haunting, 4th Disciple violin loop. It's "Doomsday" for those whack emcees after listening to this one. On the other side of the table, "Red Dawn" is average. Why? 9th Prince, yet again. For some strange reason, it seems like everybody's flow on this track is off. As expected, you can be whack, but nothing compares to 9th Prince. What makes it so much worse is the fact that the beat is so good and that the actual written lyrics are great, but 9th Prince has no clue as to how to utilyze flow and a clean delivery. I know better, but it honestly feels as if his flow is making his lyrics seem amateurish or if he's talking nonsense. Luckily for us. Beretta 9 saves it with some sick, sick, sick lyricism:

"We go to war like Arabians, Pakistinians, Richmond and Indians
Germans, Muslims, Vikings, Patriots
Trojans, Conquistodors, Romans
Projects, Aztecs, Confederates, Yankees, Nazis"

My favorite song on this entire album has to be the psychotic track aptly titled "The Shoot Out". It's quite funny too because once I finished listening to this, I realized one important reason as to exactly why I love it so much: NO 9TH PRINCE. Thank goodness that fool isn't here to fuck this track up. P.R. Terrorist, Beretta 9, Islord, and Killa Sin showcase exactly how great they are and why 9th is so bad. They waste absolutely no time here, spitting rough and rugged street lyricism focused on venomous metaphors and similes. These kids sound unbelievably hungry on here, and it shows. Beatwise, the song is psychotic, as I put. The quick violin loop mixed in with the hard-hitting bass and perfectly fused together with various beat-breaks and scratch effects give it that gritty, street cypher feel to it. One of 4th Disciple's best beats ever, and yes I mean that. "Bastard Swordsman" continues the trend of Wu-Tangish tracks, with unbelievably ill beats and simply dangerous lyrics.

We continue with cuts like "Last Poet", "Serving Justice", and "Where I Rest", which are good songs in their own right, but I suspect that it probably won't hold the attention of many fans outside of backpackers, rap battle fanatics, and those who love the Wu-Tang Clan style. All three, while having slightly varied subject matter, always keep that underlining factor and theme of the dark alleys and parkways found in the streets, perfectly illustrated with complex metaphors comparing them to the grim battlefield of war, which seemingly takes no prisoners. The only other real problem that I have with Killarmy besides 9th Prince is the lack of variety in their lyrics. Every song is the same. Every song has a similar feel and similar subject matter, but nothing ever truly changes. Killarmy always plunges us into their sick world and never give us any breathing room. However, for fans of this type of stuff like myself, well I eat it up like candy. However, those who prefer more emotional music with variety, or perhaps conceptualism, as well as clean beats, probably won't be replaying this album too much.

However, "Pain" fully demonstrates what Killarmy was surely capable of on this album, but didn't quite achieve. Throughout this entire album, Killarmy has basically either battle rapped, or masked underlining messages within their lyrics. Most of the messages circle around the dangers of the streets and it's comparison to guerilla warfare. While that's all fine and good, Killarmy never really show too much emotional depth... until now. Killarmy shows the true tragedy of what they've been describing (some would say glorifying), and brilliantly describe the other side of the war: where hapless victims die and heroes are made at a costly price. Killarmy still find time to battle though, but at least here they got depth up the ass... oh and a great beat.

Killarmy accomplish leaving the shadow of the Wu on Dirty Weaponry, but that doesn't mean they are quite at that skill level. As I described during the review, the album has a couple of major flaws that prevent it from getting a full 5 Star rating, mainly having to do with 9th Prince and a couple of weaker moments. The lack of true variety is also something needed, although the creative concept and metaphor used throughout it does excuse it to a certain degree, but I feel that they could've done so much more with the talent that they have. When comparing it to the other albums, this is probably my pick, but I honestly don't know yet. While Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars has a handful of better songs than what's on here, it's drab moments and lack of consistency really kill it. Fear, Love, and War was a decent album (released after this by the way), which had a lot of good songs but still didn't feel complete, yet it had a lot of good stuff on it. I suppose I could say that Dirty Weaponry is the most complete Killarmy album released to date. You will rarely press the skip button, but you probably won't be as inspired as you would be, specially if you aren't a fan of this type of music. I suggest this album strictly for fans of street-hop and of course... if you're trigger happy.

4 Stars







SIMILAR STUFF TO LISTEN TO:

Killarmy - Fear, Love, and War

Kool G. Rap - Roots of Evil

O.C. - Word... Life

Killah Priest - View from Masada




Recommended: Yes