Wonderfully Hideous: Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Image courtesy of clipping.
San Francisco-based rap group Clipping surprised fans this August when they announced their fourth studio album, “Visions of Bodies Being Burned.” The experimental trio, led by Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs, released “There Existed an Addiction to Blood” last October, an industrial take on the horrorcore genre. They recorded so many songs for it they couldn’t fit them into one album, so the new record is the second half of the story. clipping. always turns the dial forward, challenging what it means to be hip-hop. This time, they turned it up to eleven and gave us their most experimental album to date.
Image courtesy of Subpop
The first thing that stands out about clipping. is their sound, and “Visions of Bodies Being Burned” is no exception. This album simply sounds like nothing else being made right now. It’s abrasive and sonically hideous, meant to turn off the general public so only the most dedicated listeners will stick around, and there are some moments that legitimately sound terrifying.
Producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes perfected their use of atmospheric synths, heavy bass, and liberal sampling to create the perfect amount of tension. The album opens with reverb-soaked pounding and white noise that only intensifies and becomes more unnerving, showing no signs of releasing the tension. “Pain Everyday” features electronic voice phenomenon recordings and pulsing synths to simulate a paranormal haunting, and the scattered guitar plucking on “Eaten Alive” sounds perfectly ugly when played with clattering metal. Additionally, the transition from “Wytchboard (Interlude)” to “96 Neve Campbell” sends shivers down the spine. If nothing else, definitely check that part out for yourself.
Clipping’s experimental nature extends into the songwriting as well. Three verses fly by in “Something Underneath” before it grinds to a halt and unleashes its minimal arrhythmic chorus. The second verse of “Make Them Dead” sounds nothing like the deathlike droning of the first and third. There aren’t any big hooks or sing-along refrains to be found here—an absent-minded listener could be excused for missing a song’s chorus entirely. This helps create a somewhat gloomy mood that defines the atmosphere of“Visions of Bodies Being Burned”. It definitely sounds more like a horror project than “There Existed.” That album may have been full of scary stories, but it was too intense to incite any real terror like the newest release does.
Although he may be more well-known for his acting abilities, Diggs is a master lyricist and performer. His avoidance of the first-person point of view has always been a staple of his style, and here it allows the audience to enter the universe he creates. In “Body for the Pile,” Diggs describes the details of three crime scenes. The victims are all police officers, and the mood is tense as investigators deal with the deaths of their co-workers and try to avoid their fate while the killer taunts them in the chorus. None of this is directly stated in the lyrics, but Diggs’ vivid imagery and frantic delivery allows listeners to piece together the events of the murder as if they were the police. He shows without telling; a skill he blesses the listeners with across the album’s 12 non-instrumental tracks and makes him a candidate for the best emcee of his time.
The best track on the album is “’96 Neve Campbell.” The song imagines featured rappers Cam & China as a horror film’s “final girl” going after the killer. It has a great chorus and an impeccably creaky groove, and all three rappers are as intimidating as the beat and subject matter demand.
“Visions of Bodies Being Burned” is one of the weirder albums out right now, one definitely worth checking out. It’s not the easiest first listen, and you’d be forgiven for not being able to see past the unconventional sonic elements. However, those who stick around for its entirety and choose to continue listening will be rewarded by an extremely creative project made by a group with entrepreneurial energy to spare.