ALBUM REVIEW: I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses – Backxwash

Make no mistake: while she’s technically a hip-hop artist, BACKXWASH belongs in a publication like Distorted Sound. The metal community rightly began to embrace the Montreal-based rapper following the release of last year’s God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It. With its dark aesthetic and samples of bands like BLACK SABBATH and NINE INCH NAILS, it’s easy to see why. A follow-up has been hotly anticipated ever since, and arrives a lot sooner than you might’ve expected in the form of I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses.

Coming a little more than a year after its already critically-acclaimed predecessor, I Lie Here… marks a significant step-up in terms of quality. The samples on this are less obviously metal, but the record still sits comfortably both in our world and beyond. Specifically, it boasts a serious industrial heaviness that’s reminiscent of bands like THE BODY and the aforementioned NINE INCH NAILS. The production, mostly handled by BACKXWASH herself but with the occasional helping hand from members of CLIPPING., CODE ORANGE, and album mixer Will Owen Bennett, is impeccable. It hits with a consistent crushing force, and isn’t afraid to terrorise its listeners with its abrasive and torturous edge.

In BACKXWASH’s own words, I Lie Here… sees her finding “solace in being consumed by her malevolent behaviours.” This darkness is apparent from album opener Purpose Of Pain, where a repeated spoken sample informs us: “A little bit of pain is a good thing.” Nine violent and experimental hip-hop tracks follow this, each providing a perfect backdrop to BACKXWASH’s consistently gripping performance. Her flow is excellent throughout, her delivery invariably laced with a fierce, throat-grabbing aggro. Crucially, you can tell she means every word, and that this entire record comes from a place of genuine and justified pain and anger.

Picking highlights seems almost pointless for a record this invariably excellent, but several tracks do stand out. The album’s title track is arguably its most savage, with Ada Rook of BLACK DRESSES (who also mastered the record) providing a throat-searingly harsh chorus in between BACKXWASH’s devastating explorations of gender and religion. As on its predecessor, religion remains a common theme throughout I Lie Here…, not least on later highlights like In My Holy Name and Song Of Sinners. Elsewhere, fourth track Terror Packets sees her joined by rapper CENSORED DIALOGUE, who shares their own story of coming out with brutal and heart-rending honesty.

As mentioned, I Lie Here… sees BACKXWASH dispense with the more obvious metal samples heard on God Has Nothing To Do With This…, but that doesn’t mean the samples are gone altogether. Those she does use are excellent. On eighth track 666 In Luxaxa for example, a simple tribal chant provides a mesmerising foundation for a single verse in which she takes aim at everyone from Christian missionaries and slave traders to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Later, on album closer Burn To Ashes, she samples fellow Montrealians GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR to provide trance-like backing to the record’s masterful and emotional finale.

Much like recent(ish) offerings from the likes of DAUGHTERS, CLIPPING. and even LINGUA IGNOTA, I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses won’t be for everyone. At the same time though, this record definitely sits comfortably in the same realm as those highly-respected artists and albums. It can be a difficult listen, absolutely, but by maintaining a consistent and hefty industrial stomp there is still plenty for listeners to grab onto even amid this album’s relentless harshness. BACKXWASH may not be sampling Ozzy Osbourne anymore, but music this creative and uncompromising should always find a warm welcome in our scene.

Rating: 9/10

I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses is out now via UglyHag Records.

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