It is often difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt the review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective on the music here are four reactions, four impressions, Four Takes on Jedi Mind Tricks’ A History of Violence.

I have always considered Jedi Mind Tricks the underground Hip Hop equivalent of Insane Clown Posse: both have ridiculous names and utilize strange, violent lyrics that seem to resonate mostly in angry suburban youths. That being said, their new album A History of Violence, really isn’t as terrible as I thought it would be. I never realized what a terrific producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind is for instance. History has some extremely unique, complex beats that employ a variety of samples from Freddie Foxxx to Middle Eastern Psychedelia. Unfortunately Vinnie Paz and Jus Allah’s rhyming just isn’t up to the same level of quality. Paz in particular is all over the place. Lines like “The way my operation works is like a surgeon thesis / I’ll drink the period blood of a fuckin’ virgin priestess,” don’t inspire much more than a “what the fuck is he talking about?” And when he’s getting political it not only sounds generic, but also factually misguided. In “Butcher Knife Bloodbath” Paz asks “Why we in Iran if all that we want is Osama? / Why we in a jam when all that we want is Obama?” News flash – we haven’t been in Iran since the late Seventies. Or, is the reason the line is Iran instead of Iraq because “Iran” rhymes with “jam” better? It’s hard to take the lyrics seriously when Paz himself hasn’t taken them seriously enough to get them right. Stoupe may pull this album up out of mediocrity, but great beats aren’t enough to make the record shine. - Jon Behm

“Let me tell you mother fuckers who you fuckin with,” rips first voice heard on A History of Violence. While the blast is just a sample used on the album’s scratch-happy introduction, it sets a dark tone for History’s remaining 12 tracks. But with song titles like “Deathbed Doctrine,” “Deadly Melody,” “Butcher Knife Bloodbath,” and “Death Messiah” however, it’s hard to think of the album as something that wouldn’t have dark themes running throughout. That being the case, there’s an air of insincerity that generally accompanies any art that primarily focuses on gruesome death - and it’s definitely evident with History. Not to say that Jedi Mind Tricks’ songs are insincere, but after two decades of gangsta rap, spouting “where corrupt cops plant a fuckin’ gun in your vest / where we retaliate by puttin’ fuckin’ one in they chest” comes off as weak sauce. All the same, passively listening to the album is pretty good experience, Vinnie Paz’s voice peels the paint off of Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind’s bangers. In that respect the album fails to get old, but when considering the album as a whole however, A History of Violence is skin-deep at best. - Chris DeLine

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with the amount of anger found in an album titled A History Of Violence, but still the abrasive nature of the lyrics and outright hostility within the rhymes caught me a bit off guard (full disclosure, this was my first introduction to Jedi Mind Tricks), and that animosity clashed harshly with the fresh, smooth beats found throughout the record. That’s not to say that there still isn’t shit to get riled up about regarding living in the city, and I identify with some of that anger and frustration, but perhaps the results of the election have caused me to think optimistically about things for a change. Some of the rage brought forth on this record rings a bit hollow to me, and distracts from the innovative mix of Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind that lays the foundation of the entire record. Some tracks bring the groups message forth in a unique way, even with the gangsta rap undertones, like “Godflesh,” “Death Messiah,” and “Trail Of Lies,” which examines in an interesting manner how television and the media can, and often does corrupt an impressionable mind, and are highlights of the album. But most of the record just feels like so much thug posturing to me, and I just can’t buy into the fury and vehemence in tracks like “Butcher Knife Bloodbath,” and “Terror,” no matter how banging the beats are. - Erik Thompson

Hardcore underground hip hop, on paper, should be a thing of beauty. You take some hard, boom-bap beats, some angry emcees yelling about Armageddon, and the energy of a death metal concert, and the end result has the potential to be a welcome alternative to the feel-good “positive” rap floating around out there. After all, hip hop should be rebellious, right? It should scare people, right? And again, on paper, Jedi Mind Tricks should be fun to listen to. Vinnie Paz has one of the most distinctive voices in hip hop, a gravelly, cartoon-villain roar (with lyrics to match), and producer Stoupe is more than competent when it comes to crafting beats that highlight the group’s common lyrical themes: violence, quasi-religious imagery, violence, pseudo-political commentary and violence. While JMT have dropped a couple bangers over the years, the new album is so formulaic, so predictable, that a lot of the shock just isn’t very shocking. Scratch choruses featuring the voices of better emcees, three-to-five syllable rhyme schemes talking about Jesus and shooting people, sped-up samples… we’ve heard this all before. Onetime member Jus Allah is back, and though he doesn’t really say much, at least provides a rhythmic contrast to Paz with his damn-near Lil’ Waynesian flow. All in all, JMT do nothing to build on or alter their formula; for the die-hard fans, maybe this is good news, but the rest of us may as well go listen to M.O.P. or Big L (or even 2000-era JMT) for our hardcore fix. - Kyle “El Guante” Myhre

Jedi Mind Tricks “Monolith” (mp3)

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