Krsitoff Krane and Sadistik, “Prey For Paralysis” (Crushkill Recordings, 2011)

In times of rap artists releasing successful Top 40 records with a chorus simply stating the word “ass” repetitively, or expressing that things that are capable of actually being “cray,” Kanye West himself has asked, “do anybody make real shit anymore?” The answer to his question is undoubtedly yes, thanks to Sadistik and Kristoff Krane’s new hip-hop/rap project “Prey For Paralysis.”

The popular underground rap artists Sadistik and Kristoff Krane began a three-month tour in April 2011 that took them to nine different countries and resulted in them collaborating together on their tour bus. While touring in Amsterdam, Krane exposed Sadistik to a fellow Minnesotan: the live instrumentalist and ‘melancholic and menacing’ hip-hop band No Bird Sing member Graham O’Brien, whom they found to be a perfect match to produce their work. Once they collided, “Prey For Paralysis” was born.

Sadistik and Krane’s ways exhibit a similar background in poetry and prose, as they both execute a desire to make hip-hop that pushes musical boundaries. Krane’s earlier work contains uncommon backtracks, using experimental jazz, rock and hip-hop to drive his work. Sadistik’s solo material has a darker element using anything from ambient electronic music to harsh guitars and drums. That being said, Graham O’Brien is an obvious choice to complete the trio: on top of being an excellent producer to this album, O’Brien’s drum skills are phenomenal, piecing together the album and definitely being the album’s push over the edge. Without his additive swag, the album would not sound as frenetically intense as it does. As emcees, Sadistik and Krane are a great match. Both are able to pull the listener in with their abstract imagery and long form narrative within each of their rhymes. They are both tremendously wordy, however, the real tastiness comes from the eerie short sung choruses linking together the verses.

It is clear this pair includes an emcee from the Twin Cities: the place where the underground rap culture is nurtured by local hip-hop label Rhymesayers Entertainment who fosters the prominent artists such as Atmosphere, Eyedea & Abilities, P.O.S. and MF Doom. Because Krane’s most notable work was with the late Eyedea (collaboration duo titled Face Candy), it has been rumored that “Prey For Paralysis” was a sequeled nod to Eyedea’s “By The Throat.” This rumor is plausible, considering the match between the rapid rhyming and the lurid drumming throughout the album; also considering similarities to Eyedea’s famously dark lyrics. In the record “Higher Brain” off this album, Krane recites, “FEMA camps, 9/11, obsession with materialism/…We’re living in a prison so let’s set bail.”

The album’s only fault is that it, at times, continues on too repetitive: with each song containing the focus on the match between samples of distinctive vocal whirrs and blatant drum beats backtracking Krane and Sadistik’s insane rapid rhyming abilities, it’s hard to distinct some songs from the next.

Nevertheless, the album is arguably some of the best work from both Sadistik and Krane. Most notably, “Hunter’s Prey” highlights the true harmonious way the three artists mesh, or perhaps beautifully juxtapose, their unique crafts together. This record contains the most variety out of the ten tracks.

The uneasy feeling that the unrestrained roller coaster “Prey For Paralysis” leaves listeners with is incomparable. The two prominent hip-hop artists matched with O’Brien’s unbeatable producing talent form a force to be reckoned with. Though this album may periodically sound like one ongoing drum-filled paranormal track, it’s definitely an album to rock out t­o — start to finish.