Facts of life:
Rage Against The Machine, despite their constant polical rants, were ultra cool.
Public Enemy and Cypress Hill are some of the only tolerable rap bands along with Beastie Boys.
And what happens when you combine the forces of RATM, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill?
Ultra cool stuff – in an old school fashion!
One could argue that I’m stuck in the late 80s and the 90s in some respects, but to hell with that. The Beastie Boys’ ‘License to Ill’ was part of my introduction into heavy music. Public Enemy hit my radar when Anthrax involved them, and I began to appreciate what they did too. Unlike some purists out there, I really never had an issue with the mix of metal and rap, and I think it’s been one of the things that has helped metal move along and develop. Cypress Hill also balanced on the edge, collaborating with Christian Wolbers from Fear Factory etc.
RATM was one of the smaller revolutions in my lifetime. They changed a lot in terms of what metal music could be and crushed many boundaries. Above and beyond all, they were groovy as f*ck, and for that it was hard not to love them.
What the constellation consisting of RATM and Public Enemy members presents now is far from a revolution in this day and age, but it certainly is a nostalgia high. The two studio song on the EP merges the sound and riffing wonders of Rage Against The Machine and attitude of Public Enemy and Cypress Hill, and, well, yeah, it sounds mostly like new RATM material to be honest – even if the tune Prophets of Rage is a new interpretation of an old Public Enemy song. The three live tracks of ‘The Party’s Over’ are the monster hit Killing In The Name (which fares equally well with the voices of Public Enemy and Cypress Hillas they did with Zack), the Public Enemy classic Shut Em Down and another big, big song, namely Beastie Boys’ No Sleep Til Cleveland (yes, it’s been slightly modified for the occasion).
This is a short, sharp and sweet blast from the past in a slightly updated shape – and I certainly don’t hope that this party is over with this EP!
Track list:
01. Prophets of Rage
02. The Party’s Over
03. Killing in the Name (live)
04. Shut Em Down (live)
05. No Sleep Til Cleveland (live)
Release date: 26th of August, 2016
Label: Caroline Records
Website: prophetsofrage.com
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