Mahatma Crowley & The Beholder's Trinity Unveil Ghoulish THE BEHOLDER'S MARK Follow-up, "Glass Half Empty" [PROJECT 2] Ahead of Fall Equinox (Akashic Vibrations Records)
"[PROJECT 2] is a concept mixtape that covers the themes of fame, isolation, Armageddon, suicide, immortality, dark magick, and Christian mysticism. "Glass Half Empty" is the mid-point of this story and deals primarily with the emotion of helplessness... How do you see the glass? Can you see it any other way? Will my visions ever change? [PROJECT 2] on the horizon," self-described Occult Hip-Hop emcee Mahatma Crowley wrote within recent Facebook and Soundcloud statements; both mysteriously hashtagged "BEHOLDTHEMARK" and "SOLSTICEWEEK," which would be this upcoming week, to be exact, the impending Autumnal Equinox, Thursday, September 22nd (a potential release date). Mahatma Crowley's ghoulish delivery vaguely reminds me of his grizzled bark predecessors DMX, Ja Rule, Rick Ross, Yeezus-era Kanye, and at times, even Death Grips' frenzied frontman MC Ride. Upon first hearing Crowley & The Beholder's Trinity's latest single, "Glass Half Empty" this past moon-lit Saturday evening, I was instantly reminded of his fellow Horrorcore peers Flatbush Zombies—who recently, for whatever reasons, played The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon—RZA & Prince Paul's painfully short-lived Gravediggaz, and Swedish Dream Pop/Hip-Hop aficionados jj's phenomenal christmas eve 2010-released kills mixtape.
Mahatma Crowley previously described his self-released June 2015 mixtape within its contained description as: "THE BEHOLDER'S MARK is my debut album. I made sure that every word meant something to me. I hope it means something to you. Each track represents a year of my life. To balance chaos and order. To find my way. All things at once. At the same time, nothing. Visit mahatmacrowely.com for the full experience of the project." Those who dare sign up at mahatmacrowley.com/inbetweeners are eligible to "win a free [CD] album with stickers and a personal message" by simply supplying their email and mailing addresses on the form provided. I'm still currently attempting to dissect THE BEHOLDER'S MARK, but it's one Hell of an inaugural journey through Occult Rap, a unique burgeoning genre which I can honestly say, is entirely unlike anything I've ever been exposed to; while all of THE BEHOLDER'S MARK's 18 contained tracks are all accompanied by "Occult Multi-media Artist"-designed cover images and an eerily brief seven-chapter video element, "Inbetweeners" is without a doubt, an instant stand-out... wherein Mahatma Crowley ferociously spits ghoulish rhymes over an impeccable Steven DeBlat-produced Ellie Goulding "Anything Could Happen" sample. Mahatma Crowley is currently readying seven full-length music videos from THE BEHOLDER'S MARK and as well as putting the finishing touches on [PROJECT 2], is actively working on completing [PROJECT 3] with 22 artists and 9 producers, and his second "true album," [PROJECT 4].