Though theOGM and Yeti Bones are no strangers to satire and mock-protest (check out, for example, “The Dope Dealerz”, “United States of Horror”, and “Street Power”), they have, throughout their oeuvre, leaned more consistently toward gritty and kill-or-be-killed realism.
With their latest album, Tomorrow We Escape, they continue to forge gripping narratives and confrontive declarations, their verses ensconced, often straitjacketed, in industrial, hardcore, and metal sonics. In fact, there’s not much “mock” here, just well-crafted juggernaut mixes and volatile cum apoplectic vocals, with touches of pop sensibility thrown in for good measure.
That is, Tomorrow We Escape is perhaps the grittiest and least satirical album in the Ho99o9 discography. Opening track “I Miss Home” launches with a deceptively laidback socio-political analysis re: Black legacy, even as undercurrents of distortion boil, bubble, and spurt. On “Escape”, which references Nirvana’s “Aneurysm” (as did “Skinhead” from their last LP, Skin), Yeti’s guitar is drenched in overdrive, OGM’s vocal strained, borderline hysterical. And yet, the duo are acutely attuned to loud/soft dynamics, pulling back (slightly) to give the listener space, then burying him in static and volume – an unbridled blitzkrieg.
“Target Practice” jabs at the tediousness of Black stereotypes in pop culture, OGM’s vocal singed by Yeti’s blowtorch guitar. With “OK, I’m Reloaded”, Yeti discards the blowtorch and picks up a machine gun. OGM sounds as if his throat has been soaked in gasoline and someone just tossed a match in his mouth. On the alluringly hooky “Upside Down”, a Layne Staley-esque vocal is spattered with sandpaper textures.
Chelsea Wolfe contributes an angsty vocal on “Immortal” (the only time reverb is noticeably used). Busy drums pull and lurch like a tethered werewolf. Washed-out guitars evoke longing, frustration, a sense of impending apocalypse. The insurrectional “Tapeworm”, featuring Greg Puciatoo, blends bloodthirsty vocals, blistering guitars, and frenetic drums. The track epitomizes how Tomorrow We Escape burns away any fluff that might have crept into earlier work, the duo amping up and sustaining their assault on the status quo, refusing to mellow or unconsciously lapse into go-along-to-get-along stances.
With Tomorrow We Escape, Ho99o9 remain uncompromising, railing against familial, cultural, and governmental hypocrisies. They’re anarchist in the boldest sense; i.e., committed to freedom and the order that naturally occurs when people are encouraged to be their true selves and pursue their callings. Arriving during an era of resurgent isms, Tomorrow We Escape reminds us that the rebellious spirit is indomitable, that no matter the conditions, it will indeed “speak to power”, it will be heard.
