{"id":10470,"date":"2018-01-31T19:56:27","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T00:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altwire.net\/?p=10470"},"modified":"2023-12-06T06:39:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T11:39:32","slug":"album-review-tomkarp-rapcore-not-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/album-review-tomkarp-rapcore-not-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"[Album Review] TomKarp – Rapcore Is Not Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

TomKarp<\/strong>‘s repertoire has remained relatively straight forward, for the majority of his young career. Initially earning notability for YouTube guitar covers of classic \u041b\u0438\u043c\u043f \u0411\u0438\u0437\u043a\u0438\u0442<\/strong> tracks, Karp’s immediate impression to any viewer is, at the very least, one of proficiency; the Polish guitarist’s emulation of Wes Borland<\/strong>‘s extremely recognizable style has been acclaimed by his modest audience, and on several occasion adding flairs of his own into the mix while keeping in line with the feel of the original. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Karp’s debut 2018 EP, Rapcore Is Not Dead<\/i>, should be so heavily inspired by those he clearly appreciates.<\/p>\n

While the majority of Rapcore Is Not Dead<\/i>\u2019s roster is compiled of material heavily influenced by the nu-metal rap-rock giants of early 2000s, it\u2019s progression from emulation to inspiration is fantastically executed. Indeed, all influences are unashamedly front and center, even going so far as to sample \u041b\u0438\u043c\u043f \u0411\u0438\u0437\u043a\u0438\u0442<\/strong>\u2019s recognizable \u2018Shotgun\u2019 blast on \u2018Rapcore Is Not Dead.\u2019 With Karp\u2019s Borland-esque riffage, piercing harmonics and signature clean delay effectively driving much of the instrumental side of things, the EP also happily employs DJ scratching similar to the likes of \u041b\u0438\u043d\u043a\u0438\u043d \u041f\u0430\u0440\u043a<\/a><\/strong>'s \u041c\u0435\u0442\u0435\u043e\u0440\u044b<\/a><\/i>-era Joe Hahn<\/strong>, to notably boost \u2018Haunted\u2019 and the ‘Rapcore Is Not Dead’ bridge. As for the overall production, the relatively independent EP barely displays any signs at all that this is anything short of a high quality, professional release; the rawness of a solid rock record is clearly established, yet employing the quality of production that would be more expected from many of Karp\u2019s successful peers.<\/p>\n

Further to enhance an already clearly enjoyable record, Rapcore Is Not Dead<\/i> also establishes itself as a testament to collaborations done right; all artists involved are clearly 100% on board with the direction and style of the EP, leading to an assortment of extremely solid performances. The combined efforts of Trix and Grip on \u2018Haunted\u2019 leads to an effective Fred Durst<\/strong> inspired flow and vocal performance, with a screamed bridge likely to impress fans of early Linkin Park’s \u0427\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440 \u0411\u0435\u043d\u043d\u0438\u043d\u0433\u0442\u043e\u043d<\/a><\/strong>, or Slipknot\/Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor<\/strong>. Middle act, \u2018Neck Rack\u2019, offers a little more variety on the vocal side of things, Sternblaze\u2019s performance emulating the likes of Rage Against The Machine’s Zach de la Rocha<\/strong>, while Aleksandra Ligeza\u2019s gorgeous vocals on the chorus add a more ethereal element to the track.<\/p>\n

Lyrically, much of the quality of Rapcore Is Not Dead<\/i> remains at a similarly high standard, albeit a little gratuitous at times, but this is nothing surprising for the genre the EP inhabits; most of the EP benefits from enthusiastically inspired lyrical content, such as \u2018Haunted\u2019s Trix and Grip frequently switching back and forth between English to Polish vocals, an element that further pushes the track\u2019s dynamic into far more interesting territory. Concluding Rapcore Is Not Dead<\/i> in particularly stunning fashion, final track \u2018Harmonic Silence\u2019 stands as both an explosive representation of all elements included beforehand, and yet also contains the most powerful subject matter addressed lyrically; before tackling the increasingly prominent issues of suicide and depression, \u2018Harmonic Silence\u2019s official video introduces the finale as a \u201cdedication to the ones who lost\u201d the \u201chardest fight you have to face\u201d, the one \u201cwith yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering nu-metal and rap rock\u2019s relatively deteriorated appreciation and status within the music community, TomKarp<\/strong>\u2019s debut EP offers a fine testament to being one of the most enjoyable releases to come out of a relatively finished genre, it\u2019s bold proclamation being exactly what it states itself to be; Rapcore Is Not<\/u> Dead<\/i>. Sure, the EP displays an impressively competent effort on the behalf of its skilled collaborators, but at the very centre Karp helms the project with an attitude of both confidence, and unwavering appreciation for the influences he embraces. For those still waiting for a Stampede of The Disco Elephants<\/i>, Rapcore Is Not Dead<\/i> offers plenty to like to tie you over for a while, and if imitation is “the highest form of flattery”, then TomKarp is going about it in all the right ways.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TomKarp‘s repertoire has remained relatively straight forward, for the majority of his young career. Initially earning notability for YouTube guitar … \u0427\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0435<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":10473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1673],"class_list":["post-10470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-tomkarp","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}