The intro to Embrace Chaos by StonedAKhana comes in strong! The beat is very well put together and fits the Trap Metal vibe we go for perfectly. The audio production right from the start is also very good! But his vocals on the hook could use some improvement. When I hear a beat this hard, I expect to hear vocals to match but these vocals are a bit more on the emo / screamo side of things. While I like winey emo vocals. Generally I enjoy stuff like that over some melodic post hardcore vibes. When it comes to Trap Metal I want to hear aggressive almost drill like vocals. Its called Trap Metal because of its association with Trap Music. This shit ain’t soft. But to each his own. That may just be personal preference. I had to skip Alive In The Moshpit.
The next track is called ASSHOLE and while I like the sound to this one better. I don’t really like the lyrical content. This song is all about glorifying how he is an “Asshole” and that kinda energy is why some people have a distain for Trap Metal so I also skipped this song.
The next song is called Damage Boys. And it comes in with some filthy sludge type bass. I was sooooo stoked!!! But then the vocals came in on a hot mic, with lots of gain and distortion and it completely hurt my ears. It felt like the vocals were slapped together. And its really sad because all these beats are really amazing and ive never heard them before. But i just cant get over these vocals. I love Trap Metal. This aint it.
Wealth is a more Shadow Rap type track. I like it. Reminds me of Lil Tytan. But this track also falls short and I had to skip.
And in comes his closing track. “Let Me Bleed” Right out the gate this track got me pumped. Finally! This track goes fucking hard! And StonedAKhana really makes up for the lack of effort he put into this EP. He did his MF thang on this one! It feels like he took his time writing these lyrics and he has more control over his vocal performance as well. He executes this closer passionately without loosing any intensity or overpowering the mic. Clearly this artist has a lot of potential. He just needs to refine his sound and maybe link with a quality engineer.
I rarely give low ratings. But I am curating for the Trap Metal Scene so i have to be 100% genuine in my observations, so unfortunately I give this release a rating of 4/10. It would have been a 2/10 but that last song was an absolute undeniable banger! If he did a whole ep of bangers like that id be forced to gass his shit up. Till then! Keep working hard! If you wanna hear it for yourself check out EMBRACE CHAOS by StonedAKhana, out now on all platforms!