"Fields of Fire" begins and ends with a snippet from the classic 1966 spaghetti western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Clint Eastwood famously says: "You see in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig." Giallo sets the stage with a hard boom-bap drum layered with whimsical piano chords. Fahim impressively opens the album with a single verse that surpasses two minutes in length. He effortlessly connects bars with clever rhymes and flow switch-ups as he navigates the beat with ease.
"Guillotines" opens with dramatic strings, followed by a subtle drum behind a delicate piano scheme. The track is kicked off by an uncredited feature by PhybaOptikz—a UK-rapper, Crate Divizion affiliate, and close associate of Giallo Point. Phyba handles his minute-long verse, setting up Fahim for one of his own. The contrast of Phyba's British accent against Fahim's American dialect makes for a memorable track.
"Hira" uses a dramatic instrumental that resets every other bar with a pronounced cue, mixing in sound bites and flow switch-ups as it goes along. Fahim's verse is calmly aggressive; his delivery calculated while his bars depict horrific scenes of violence.
"Gallows Thief" showcases Giallo's old-school vibe with a scrubbed sample chorus that connects two quick verses by Fahim. The atmospheric beat is layered with orchestral strings on top of a snare drum. Fahim rapid-fires a pair of dense, 40-second verses that maintain his output standard for this project.
"Trained 2 Kill" utilizes layers of piano, synths, and woodwinds over the drum. Fahim's flow and wordplay continues to impress, delivering deep and insightful bars, such as: "Corrupt systems got me searchin' for divine wisdom, I'm just tryna make it out this crime prism."
"Shiloh" uses a sample from Black Moon's "How Many MC's..." from their 1993 debut album, Enta da Stage. Giallo subtly scrubs and layers the instrumental to give off distinct 90's hip-hop vibes. Fahim delivers a pair of aggressive verses with a familiar style and flow.
"Pistols & Lies" opens and closes with cryptic dialogue between mobsters; the source is currently unknown. Giallo increases the tempo of the drum, mixed with an eerie synth and delicate keyboard, setting up Fahim to deliver his most violent and aggressive verse thus far: "Two twin glocks pop nigga, you spinnin' doom's wheel."
"The Trap" briefly begins with a laidback intro before abruptly cutting into his most aggressive chorus to date. The beat matches the tempo of the previous track, and Fahim continues upping the ante on his violent, horrorcore lyrics: "I pull up where your baby at, unload the clip and spray the Mac."
"Brasco" is the standout track on the album for me. The beat is immaculate: a hard-hitting boom-bap beat layered over a delicate piano scheme. Fahim establishes a memorable chorus between his verses: "When I die bury me with a pound of haze, I pray that God wash my sins away."
"Golden Sun" is nearing drumless territory, as Giallo relies on a simple snare rhythm and guitar riff for the beat. Fahim uses an extremely precise rhyme scheme, stringing together references with letters, for example: "Peace to Big L, peace to AZ, N.A.S. Nas, B.I.G. that raised me." Fahim closes out the track with a quirky repeated line: "I hit a rapper with a shanghai bicycle kick."
"Parallel to Hell" uses the iconic bars from Nas' NY State of Mind as the chorus. Fahim references Nas' famous words in both of his verses, clearly showing respect to one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all-time in Illmatic.
The unique chemistry between Tha God Fahim and Giallo Point comes together with Fahim's gritty demeanor mixed with a 90's hip-hop backdrop. With standout tracks such as the intro track "Fields of Fire" and the impressive "Brasco," nearly every verse on the album demands dissection upon multiple playbacks. Fahim continues to establish himself as an underground hip-hop legend as a member of Griselda records.
1. Fields of Fire - 4.5/5
2. Guillotines - 4/5
3. Hira - 4/5
4. Gallows Thief - 4/5
5. Trained 2 Kill - 4/5
6. Shiloh - 4/5
7. Pistols & Lies - 4/5
8. The Trap - 4/5
9. Brasco - 4.5/5
10. Golden Sun - 4/5
11. Parallel to Hell - 4/5
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