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Omega Point

by Red Ants

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1.
2.
3.
Insomnia 04:52
4.
5.
6.
Versus 04:58
7.
8.
Seasons 04:26
9.
End Game 06:23

about

REVIEW: RAPREVIEWS.COM
It begins with a phone call taken from an old movie. A man answers, “hello?” A piano starts, then some electronic drone. Suddenly a pounding beat starts in, and then just as suddenly cuts out, replaced instead by a Voice, booming, cocky, and menacing. The Voice says:

“The first time around a lot of things got said
And amplifiers begged for mercy while next to them the speakers bled
It must be magic the way this music wakes the dead
While other rappers got scared
Ran and hid under the bed”

The beat cuts back in, and the Voice continues:

“Little chapter in a very long book
You probably wouldn’t understand even if you took a look
All that is solid melts into thin air eventually
Revenge is a bitch, we are your own biggest enemy
Someone once said a pretty smile isn’t all
But sometimes the little simple things will make a man crawl
God created everything then wrap your head around this:
Everything is beautiful, even when it’s hideous”

And then the Voice is gone, replaced by a clicking drum beat that sounds more Nine Inch Nails than Three 6 Mafia, which then morphs back into some Bonham-esque pounding, layered with scratching, movie samples, and keyboards. It’s all over in two minutes and forty seconds.

That’s “Amplification,” the intro to Toronto duo Red Ants’ sophomore album “Omega Point.” The Voice is Modulok, and the beat is provided by Vincent Price, a producer who is more of a post-modern composer, creating nihilistic symphonies out of samplers and found sounds. Price experiments with his production, and colors far outside the lines of a standard hip hop track: he incorporates sounds more common to electronica and industrial music; he draws beats out a few bars longer than you’d expect; and at times he cuts out the beat altogether to let Modulok go acappella. “Dirty Space Alchemy” starts off with a drum fill over a humming keyboard. A kick drum and high hat are looped over and over again, until you are begging for the beat to kick in. Fifty seconds in, it finally does kick in, along with Modulock’s verse and the keyboard. “A Kind of Grim” mixes sci-fi synthesizers, reverbed guitar, and a cello to create a beat that is ominous and creepy. “Versus” features latin instruments and a timpani drum, which then give way to a skittering hi-hat with washes of synths and Star Trek sound effects.

The beats that are bleak, oppressive, heavy, and totally awesome. It’s the kind of music that demands repeated listens with headphones so that you can discover nuances you missed the first twenty times around. It’s like El-P meets Trent Reznor meets the RZA goes to hell: layered, complex, and evil as fuck.

Vincent Price has the perfect partner in Modulok, who has a slow, deliberate flow, and lyrics that are equal parts horror movie, gangsta badass, and paranoid schizophrenia. “How you gonna act like a gangsta? You soft, kid. You’d be scared of the chicks that I party with,” he explains on “Dirty Space Alchemy.” Later on he says, “She’s a werewolf, and every full moon I go/ out drinking and the Lord above knows/I pray when I get home that she’s human again/ and hasn’t murdered all the neighbor’s chickens and hens.” “Psychic Dictatorship” and “Keep Your Satellites Out of My Brain” both deal with government mind control conspiracies, and they mention AlexConstantine.com in the liner notes, which is a website devoted to similar conspiracy theories. “A Kind of Grim” talks about sucker MCs who have lost their minds, putting a creepy twist on the standard beef track.

Modulok has a way with words, and is a good storyteller. He also pops off some good one-liners, saying he’s “rowdy like tailgate party in Chernobyl.” He strays from the typical gangsta posturing and hip hop bravado to present a persona that is more menacing. Where most rappers want to be like the bad guys in gangster movies, Modulok wants to be like the bad guys in classic Marvel comics – supernatural, all-powerful, and cool as hell.

Take “Versus,” which starts off sounding like it is going to be a celebration of hedonism. It begins with Modulok rapping “since I was one years old, I’ve wanted tons of gold.” However, rather than just talk about partying with strippers, Modulok takes a left turn, and starts rapping about pain rather than pleasure: “Pain is greater than pleasure/ think about it and you’ll see/ that pain will take pleasure in the alley, break its kneecaps.” It is completely unexpected and completely unsettling.

“Omega Point” is meaner, scarier, and creepier than your typical hip hop album. While other rappers are trying to be gangsta, Modulok and Vincent Price are satisfied with being evil. Price’s beats are banging, intricate, and sinister, and they are perfectly complimented by Modulok’s booming rhymes. This is a duo to be reckoned with. You’ve been warned.
~~ rapreviews.com/2008/03/red-ants-omega-point/




REVIEW: EXCLAIM.CA
Hell, yeah! Red Ants have done it again. While not as obviously aggressive as their slept on classic (Phobos Deimos), sophomore album Omega Point is still very dark, but with even heavier bass and drums. At the same time, it's also a much more spacey and atmospheric album. Vincent Price has improved as a producer, instilling a lot more musicality and movement into his beats, and MC Modulok uses that opportunity to bring a little more of himself into his usual apocalyptic braggadocio. The tough guy boasts are still there but they're joined by stories about urban crazies ("A Kind of Grim"), political conspiracy theorising ("Keep Your Satellites Out of My Brain") and even two songs inspired by books ("Versus' and "Psychic Dictatorship'). Intelligence and anger make for a formidable combination, and Modulok use them to his advantage to attain his position as one of the best MCs currently in Canada. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up. It's the perfect hip-hop soundtrack as the world comes crumbling down around you.
~~ Thomas Quinlan exclaim.ca/music/article/red_ants-omega_point




REVIEW: SPUTNIKMUSIC.COM
Review Summary: Infectious beats mixed with dark story telling; a perfect example of the modern concept album.

Almost criminally unknown, Red Ants is the underground duo from Canada that makes some of the hardest hitting raps in the business. Their magnum opus Omega Point was released all the way back in 2008 but never did achieve the glory it should have. Cinematic in scope and dark in theme, Omega Point is the hip hop concept album we've all been dying to have.

In the near future a the world is a terrifying and dangerous place. The world is in ruins and now an evil dictatorship has taken control and the world is under control of one empire. Think Gotham or Sin City on a worldwide scale. MC Modulok narrates the trials and travels of a young man as he traverses this world and tries to create his own peace. It’s a wild ride through the darkest depths of depravity and a grim view of what the future may hold. Starting with the terrifying phone call in Amplification the album does not let up until the very last notes of the final conflict in End Game echo far in the background.

MC Modulok's rasping vocals are comparative to MC Ride's from Death Grips, but the flow is fast and enunciated like Freddie Gibbs. The doubling and harmonizing of his voice throughout the album weaves a piece of dark, omniscient power to the flow. The lyrics themselves never become corny or focus distinctly on a distinct story line, instead opting to paint a picture of their universe through harsh lyrics and a street smart word choice.

Meanwhile Vinnie P has produced a masterpiece of thick, dense, heavy material. From the opening phone call that spins into a maddening and terrifying synthesizer spin in Amplification to the final jazzy and electric beats of End Game, the resulting atmosphere is maddeningly ominous and brings to mind the classic grimdark fables and fantasies of our youth mixed with those darkest scenes of 80s and 90s animation. The beats are not unsimilar to the breakbeat style of Evil Nine or the energetic and sonic hits of Death Grips. Always original and always infectious, the production is a work of art.

Not many artists can rap a story on the same level as Nas or Zack Hemsey, nor can many create such catchy and powerful beats as J Dilla or Andy Morin, but Red Ants pull both off extremely well and with some extra eerie sensory to boot. A grim classic for the modern world. 4.5/5 Superb
~~ rufinthefury sputnikmusic.com/review/60917/Red-Ants-Omega-Point/

BIOGRAPHY
“Omega Point” is meaner, scarier, and creepier than your typical hip hop album. While other rappers are trying to be gangsta, Modulok and Vincent Price are satisfied with being evil. Price’s beats are banging, intricate, and sinister, and they are perfectly complimented by Modulok’s booming rhymes. This is a duo to be reckoned with. You’ve been warned. Decidedly uncharacteristic of Canadian styles or trends, Red Ants are a harbinger of new sounds on the horizon, produced by artists whose eyes and ears seem to be focused on the realities of our great and fucked up nation, not on an appropriated image of Hip Hop. The skyline of a bombed out T-dot with vegetation overgrowing the bones and ruins is a fairly succinct statement of the outlook of Red Ants. Omega Point is a place and time, here and now, end and beginning… and the weak are definitely eaten !

credits

released March 18, 2008

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Red Ants New York, New York

“This isn't any whiny emo-ish rap…it's a roll call of issues lining up to get mashed over the head with a lyrical bat." Herohill

Bio photo by: decipherimages.com

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