May 4, 2015
Midication Recordings
To fans of independent, raw as **** hip hop the names Virus Syndicate and Dope D.O.D. will be instantly familiar. Virus Syndicate's genre-bending collaborations with SKisM, Mark Instinct and Cyprus Hill's DJ Muggs have made them a household name among those who like their raps hard and their beats harder. Fresh from a 40 date EU tour including shows with DJ Vadim and Chase & Status, Virus Syndicate's next power move is the Battle Royal EP. And a Battle Royal wouldn't be complete without a worthy opponent. Dope D.O.D. fulfill that description in spades; selling out shows and delivering chart-topping hits is all in a day's work for the Netherlands-based trio who will be supporting Wu-Tang on two UK dates this spring. Here they bring their A-game for an almighty clash of underground hip hop titans! The Battle Royal EP starts as it means to go on with Animal Instinct, an off-kilter blend of warped beats and crisp lyrical prose that engages primitive emotions with every bar. The EP title track ups the energy with spitfire-raps and an unrelenting, visceral attitude. Beast Mode offers distorted bass crunches that underlay the hip hop supergroup's back-to-back vocal attacks before the EP closes with the uptempo dance floor smash Killing Em.