Year: 2025
Label: Long Live Evil

I might’ve said it before, but I’m a simple kinda guy. If I see something new related to Alla Xul Elu, I buy it. And, to be frank, it’s rarely been a bad decision. Even taking off my xuligan-dented glasses, the US trio really have been responsible for some of the very best horrorcore of the day throughout their entire existence.

Which means I of course did not hesitate to buy Billy Obey’s (who, for those not in the know, is one third of AXE) debut solo album. And, of course, the poetry book version of it.

You could go the long way in describing this album. A bit of boom bap combined with eerie synths, some heavy electric guitar in the best juggalo tradition and and… but, honestly, why bother?

There’s a perfectly easy, fast way to describe this album. A way that’ll tell everyone interested in the album everything they need to know.

It sounds like Alla Xul Elu.

Rhymebook Of The Recently Deceased certainly sounds more like Alla Xul Elu than the trio’s most recent album Gods Of Evil Rise (reviewed here). But then, that one was produced by juggalo legend Mike E. Clark, so it’s not surprising it had more of a vintage Insane Clown Posse sound to it than the traditional, sinister AXE sound. Lyrically, too, this is all about the sinister darkness, derangement, gore and general fuck-upedness AXE is about.

So yeah, the boom bap reference isn’t out of place, and the drum beat certainly is in focus here. Beneath that, layers of eerie horror synths bring atmosphere. Anyone who’s familiar with Alla Xul Elu’s back catalogue will feel instantly at home here.

But, to be honest, the album is missing one thing. Well, two things: Joe Black and Lee Carver, the remaining two thirds of Alla Xul Elu. To be perfectly candid, whilst Billy Obey is a perfectly adequate rapper – as all three members of AXE are – al album built all around him gets a bit monotonous when it lasts a whopping 55 minutes. Despite guests.

The other thing I’m missing from this album are those catchy hooks and choruses that would elevate good tracks to great tracks. As it stands now, Rhymebook Of The Recently Deceased doesn’t really have many standout tracks. No tracks that I can single out in the “You just have to check this out! This is a fucking classic!” way. It’s entirely pleasant to sit through the entire album in a sitting, but still – no hits.

And I’ve got to bitch about one thing in the lyric book. The proofreading. It’s got some unfortunate typos, such as should of instead of should have, apparant instead of apparent, and so on. Other than that, it’s a nice package with nice, gruesome imagery. Although I think I should also have bought the regular version, because the CD is simply housed on the inside of the back cover of the lyric book. It’s definitely more of a lyric book than album packaging.

So, the end verdict. Rhymebook Of The Recently Deceased is an album no xuligan will most likely be disappointed with. It sounds just like we want it to sound, in a nutshell. It sounds like Alla Xul Elu. At the same time, this will be of very limited interest to anyone else. And, ultimately… well, it’s not one for the ages. Not in the way Alla Xul Elu’s best are.

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