 Riotakt ("Riot Akt") are DJ / Producer ReBl & MC 4star. The duo hail from Leamington and have been playing in bands since they were at school. Their political hip-hop is influenced by rock & rap and combines heavy beats with deep dark fiery flows. Both are said to be consummate professionalsin the recording studio and certainly the result is pretty polished.
Riotakt have burst onto the hip-hop scene with this
hard-hitting debut on Dissential Records which is a blend of intelligent
anti-war flows and heavy backing tracks. ReBl's beats and instrumentation are
infectious and feature lots of big stabs and orchestrated sounds which fill up
the aural vista. The MC has a style which sounds like a classic UK MC in that
he raps fast and and has the same endless flow rather than one that changes in
tone and timbre as the tracks develop. It is never the less impressive to hear
4star flowing at speeds of up to 140BPM, like Orifice Vulgatron this is pretty
breathtaking.
![Riotakt - Lyrikal Warefare CD [Dissential]](http://www.britishhiphop.co.uk/images/stories/riotakt.jpg "Riotakt - Lyrikal Warefare CD [Dissential]")
Track list:
01. Intro : No Justice
02. Check It Out
03. Holding It Down
04. Breaking Ground
05. Bus' It
06. Step Back
07. Lyrikal Warfare
08. Warfare (Skit)
09. Da Riotakt Presenta
10. Fall Bak 2 Basiks
11. All Shut Down (Skit)
12. Dark N Grimy
13. Claim My Title
14. Won't Come Back
15. Holding It Down (Rebl & Crazee A Remix)
16. Let The Leader Lead
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The LP is 14 tracks long with an extra two bonus tracks
thrown in as well (one of which is a remix of a track already included). The LP
kicks off with the sound of Black Helicopters setting the sound for what will
be a full on aural assault. Soon we are into Check It Out which is really
typical of this crew. Harsh electronic sounds and hard fire rapping. Breaking
Ground is a manic up tempo bumper with a touch of an ehoey dub guitar and epic
chorus where all the sounds you can imagine are piled into the mix.
Bus’ It is a brief respite from the rest of the LP and is on
an easier vibe like Da Riotakt Presenta, before tracks like Step Back and Fall
Back To Basics which have an intensity that is hard to match. The title track
Lyrikal Warfare is nice with sparser production utilising a piano and some fresh
drums. Additionally 4Star doesn’t give it as much octane as he is capable of
and the track benefits for it.
I would most liken this to offering to an act like DMX
perhaps due to the heavy industrial sound. Not my favourite sound, the use of
the electric guitar gives a heavy and harsh listening experience, but also the
way it is used it sounds like a synthesised guitar rather than a real one.
Producer ReBl has utilised samples from Mozart to Mobb Deep and you can see the
influences of artists like Rage Against The Machine and the Prodigy.
For me stand out tracks included Claim My Title and Holding It
Down for the more relaxed production. But I guess my overall complaint would be
that the whole offering sounded too much like it was all very similar and after
a while of listening all the tracks seemed interchangeable. The final track, the Rakim sampling Let
The Leader Lead is anthemic and its electronic opening bass give the undeniable
Riotakt touch. It is quirky and ends on the side of the band that I find
preferable.
The CD artwork is overall quite dark and from the outside doesn’t
give much of an impression of the band, but inside it folds out for a nice photo
montage.
The duo are sure to appeal to the fans of more rocky acts
like Linkin Park and Fred Durst et al, but they could also appeal to a more UK
crowd of Kalashnekov, The Streets and even Lewis Parker fans as well, (among
others of course). If you like your hip-hop edgy and dark, get hold of this
album.
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