Year: 2025
Label: Majik Ninja Entertainment

It’s been a while since the terrible trio of Alla Xul Elu graced us with a new album. 2023’s Lost Lakes Estates was a collaboration with Super Famous Fun Time Guys; the previous proper AXE album was 2021’s Necronomichron 2 (review here). So it’s high time for a new album instead of single tracks and EP’s!

Rumour has it that Gods Of Evil Rise was actually recorded and completed a good while ago, but for whatever reason it took a long time to release. Well, better late than never, good music doesn’t have an expiry date, and whatever other platitudes you come up with.

Let’s dig in…

Gods Of Evil Rise presents a very different sound to previous albums. Gone are the dark, industrial tinged beats. They are replaced by what can only be described as decidedly old school beats, genuine throwbacks to the heyday of juggalo and Psychopathic Records. And there’s a good reason for this, too.

Which is this: the entire album is produced by Mike E. Clark. Who is, of course, the legendary produced who worked with Insane Clown Posse on many classic albums, starting with the debut Carnival Of Carnage.

The vocal stylings are, quite naturally, instantly recognizable as Alla Xul Elu. But the production is something new for the masked maniacs. True to his style, there’s even a wry playfulness to many of Clark’s beats, a catchy bounciness to them.

The end result is somewhat perplexing to begin with. Very clearly, this is AXE. But it doesn’t sound like AXE. Which sounds wrong. But it sounds good. Argh.

After a couple of listens, even the long-running fan will wrap his head around the different sound of the album. AXE have never denied their heritage, or their love for old school horrorcore. Even though they ostensibly should (or “should”) land on “the other side” of the Insane Clown Posse/Twiztid beef, AXE have, at least as far as I know, never joined in on the feud. On the contrary, they’ve even been known to speak in a conciliatory tone and have always acknowledged their (and the entire horrorcore scene’s) debt to Insane Clown Posse.

In that light, it makes perfect sense for AXE to work together with Mike E. Clark on an album that’s essentially a throwback to 15-30 years ago.

To put it simply, musically Gods Of Evil Rise sounds like Insane Clown Posse back when they still made solid albums. I’m not hating on ICP or saying they’re shit nowadays… but honestly, take the latest album Yum Yum Bedlam (reviewed here) as an example. It is very uneven. It’s been a while since ICP released an album that was through and through good.

Standout tracks on Gods Of Evil Rise include first track proper Paint The Town Red, which is a funky thing with a cool beat and catchy as hell chorus, and advance single Till We Meat. The latter one is lyrically a typically morbid, clever and gory track, with an understated, haunting beat. But on the whole, if there’s one thing I’m missing on this album, it’s those standout tracks that scream “MASSIVE HIT!” from the first time you hear it. You know, like Axe Is Family or basically anything off of Mauxuleum (review).

Throughout the album, there’s a certain contradiction between Clark’s more bouncy production (for lack of a better word) and AXE’s violent vocal delivery. In part it’s because I find myself half expecting Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope to start rapping over beats that sound like this. But ultimately, AXE and Clark turn this contradiction and friction to their advantage: it sounds unexpected, it sounds different, and it works.

Gods Of Evil Rise is a worthy addition to AXE’s discography. Ultimately, though, it doesn’t rise to be one of their strongest albums just because it’s missing those individual high note tracks. But that’s not a dismissal of it. If you’re competing against albums like Mauxuleum and The Almighty, it’s no shame to come in third.

And even though this does not rise to become the brightest crown jewel in AXE’s rather illustrious discography, it’s impossible to not get excited by an album that’s like a time machine back to the golden age of juggalo horrorcore.

So, all in all, I’m satisfied.

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