Entry 448 - Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin

 

Holy shit I've been in a musical funk lately. Nothing sounds good. I've tried almost every genre I've got in my collection to break me out... nothing was working. This is the first album that was even semi musical that sparked something in me other than a great big meh.

Cannibal Ox goes way back to the early 2000's for their debut album. They successfully have tapped into that old school kung fu inspired hip hop that is among my favorites. While they were a little late to the party, they executed the style with no less fervor and passion than those who did it in the pinnacle in the early 90's.

Fast forward many many years and now we have Blade of the Ronin. When you have this many years between albums, you expect something to change... and there are a few. The album has more going on than the Cold Vein, and the instrumentation is a bit more intricate than that album as well. That said, the most important thing - the quality - has not deteriorated from the debut.

This album has incredible flow. The music makes me sway with its infectious groove. The vocals, while not overly technical or flashy, know how to work with the music. The lyrics are silly most of the time, but the passion and conviction that they are delivered with drives the music into the next level. That combined with carefully structured beats and excellent use of samples and instruments creates one of the better hip hop albums I've heard in the last few years.

Blade of the Ronin is not a masterpiece like Cold Vein is, that said it is a fucking great album. It took something out of left field for me to snap out of this funk, even if it was just for a few moments. We'll see if this carries over into other music or if this was just a one off.