THY WILL BE DONE

More time to fully flesh out "THY WILL BE DONE" would have been nice. Serving as an immediate follow-up album to "THY KINGDOM COME", this Christmas release lacks the refinery that this rap machine typically provides. I'm sure it comes naturally to them as well to a degree, as they have been delivering music for so long, so consistently, that they have a knack for being able to put together good songs without a ton of reflection time that other artists seem to need with years between albums to deliver something unique and interesting. $uicideboy$ gives you a live broadcast of their change as you see the good, bad, and the ugly in real time with their frequent releases. Due to this, sometimes their projects may miss a little. Overall, I'm okay with this. If an artist is going to take frequent breaks to really find the exact sound and nitpick what songs they release, I expect high quality every time. If an artist always shares their art regardless of whether it's their best or worst, I respect that in its own right. Not everything needs to be the Sistine Chapel. By now, every fan of $b$ should be familiar with their lyrical content considering their lore. This album isn't really any different in that respect. They touch on several topics that they haven't been afraid to explore lyrically before, like their drug addictions, friends turning to foes, anxiety, depression, and their come-up. "Old Addicts, New Habits" and "Angel Grove" are the real standout picks for how they are written lyrically. The former's detailed depiction of being in New Orleans while being depressed, even though they are finding success, paints a vivid picture. Ruby then contrasts it to being bored, but that's better than being on drugs and blacking out. On "Angel Grove", Ruby proposes hijacking a plane with an atom bomb and crashing it into the ocean to save the world. The real kicker is that it's a plot twist, considering how much of society would look at someone with a ton of tattoos that also makes music like $uicideboy$. A textbook example of 'don't judge a book by its cover.' The musical elements of this thing are all over the place. From the vocal effects to the instrumentals to the singing and rapping. They do diversify the sound. Don't get me wrong, however, as a majority of the album is aggressive and probably more aggressive than their last few outings. The complex layering of vocals on songs like "Leviticus" and "Angel Grove" is refreshing, as they consistently find new ways to showcase their vocals. They aren't the best singers in the world, but I would be hard-pressed to name someone who has a wider range of ways their vocals are presented. The unfortunate part of this is that sometimes it doesn't land properly. Taking a step back, the album's last two songs, "Hypernormalisation" and "Fuck Ups", contain some notable missteps at several points. The vocals, especially on "Hypernormalisation", miss quite heavily. Ruby delivers some great lyrical content throughout the album, but often seems to misjudge his tone in relation to the beat. "Fuck Ups" shares this same issue to a degree but also features a half-baked melodic synth that is rather distracting from everything else going on. Then, to round off the album, Ruby has another moment, becoming tone deaf. To end it off on a good note, "BLOODSWEAT" fully gives me what I want from them. Modern hip-hop finds itself in a challenging position, where people still adore the mainstream rap of the late 2010s, but anything that resembles it now is often forgotten or considered a copycat. Artists need to get creative to find ways to advance a genre that is struggling to find its creative space in the mainstream of the mid-2020s. You can't get too crazy with the changes either, because otherwise, you may ostracize fans who may not like something too different from what they already recognize as classics of the genre. $uicideboy$ does have some leeway with this, considering they have such a cult following, and they don't follow mainstream trends of rap. "BLOODSWEAT" features a bass that is perfectly suited for this forward-thinking pursuit of the genre. Not entirely original, as I have heard similar effects before, but this song effectively utilizes distortion on the bass when playing specific notes, showcasing precision in the production rather than simply applying effects to an instrument or synth and hoping for a decent sound. This song also serves as the catchiest. Something I have always loved about $uicideboy$ is their ability to create songs that sound like a nonstop chorus. Where every single melody and lyric is an earworm. "BLOODSWEAT" is the definitive answer for people looking for that kind of song on this album.