Prequel: "The Dawning Path" - Burr Oak

I don't normally do two track EPs, but this one was far too good to avoid.

Coming off of a strong debut album in "Somewhere We Belong" in 2023, and kicking off 2024 with a fiery collaboration with Magnetude for a nasty track "I Want You", it's safe to say that Burr Oak was on a roll in 2024. But, dare I say it, they topped it all off with these two tracks to finish off the year. Fusing modern, heavy neurofunk with the old-school rap styles of drum n bass MCs, both tracks in the "Prequel: The Dawning Path" are absolute heat. They've got all the typical elements of Burr Oak tracks—the heaviness, the abrasiveness, the stabbiness, the sound design—but the added flair of the rap adds an undeniably significant flavour to both tracks, pumping them both into the 90/100 range. A smooth one-two combo of fast rap and relentlessly gritty neurofunk, complemented by lyricism that comments on the current discourse of social media, and "Prequel: The Dawning Path" finds itself as a particularly strong two-track EP.

The length of the EP, does, of course, take it down a notch, but both "Get A Grip" and "Dystopia 2.0" are two of my favourite tracks of the year. When you have only two tracks, but they're both as fire as these two, it's almost excusable. And whilst I probably won't review any more two-track EPs in the future, I just had to draw some attention to this.