Twiztid’s 2019 album, Generation Nightmare, was my favourite album of last year and will likely feature highly in my top ten list of the decade when I get round to writing that. Comprising of Jamie Madrox and Monoxide from Detroit, Michigan, Twiztid have always been keen and hungry to show their variety and skill at rapping, and their new album Mad Season (stylised in all lower case) is no exception.
Stealth released on 20th April after little hints and suggestions on social media over the past couple of weeks, and a variety of singles released from it as far back as November 2019, fanfare and acclaim has been poured onto the record with a gradually building furor as the days roll by. I picked up a copy on the 25th and I’ve been listening to it on repeat ever since it dropped onto my iPod. Yes I still use an iPod.
I can safely say that Twiztid have done it again as across the thirteen tracks on Mad Season their range is fully on display for the world to hear. If you take nothing else from this review, I cannot stress enough how much you need to listen to ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’, a cover of the timeless Duran Duran classic and performed by Jamie Madrox and Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence. This is musical genius in its purest form, and Twiztid have helpfully released a lyric video with the track for those out there who want to join in.
Mad Season is packed full of bassy instrumentals and the dark yet absorbing style of lyrics that Twiztid have established themselves with over the years. No other artists in the horrorcore subgenre of rap evolve quite like Twiztid, and every time they drop a new record fans are sceptical prior to hearing it that they could possibly top the quality of the previous one. We’re happy to be proven wrong so often.
I’ve found the style Twiztid have used on this record as similar to the one they introduced on their Trapped EP from 2016, for the instrumental styling and the tones they used. This is particularly apparent on ‘Do This 1 More Time’ and ‘Off With They Heads’ and I had often wondered if they would ever return to this style of rapping as I can only recall them ever using it on Trapped.
My favourite tracks from the album are two of the singles released prior to the album’s release, ‘Never Change’ and ‘4get U’, but the new songs I hadn’t heard before are definitely top tier as well. It is worth noting that ‘Never Change’ does not come as standard on digital versions of the album and is only available at purchase on physical copies.
Even on some of my favourite albums of the last few years there can be a track or two I skip on every listen. Twiztid however, haven’t had any skippers on their albums for at least the last decade, a trend I’m happy to confirm that Mad Season continues.
Mad Season is available to purchase from https://www.mnestore.com/Twiztid-mad-season-CD_p_2822.html and after listening through it several times it gets a solid recommendation from me for any fans of rap music.
Thank you for reading my review of Mad Season by Twiztid. Be sure to follow them on Twitter @tweetmesohard and you can follow me too if you feel like it @MaliceVER. I will be back to gaming content next week and so I look forward to speaking to you then.