Ancient Mith

This is probably a bit of a weird thing to hear, but trust me not as weird as it is to say, but Ancient Mith’s amazing new release And The Dead Shall Lie There is exactly what I expected rap of the future to sound like when I was 20 years old…you know like two decades ago.

This is probably why I love this album so much.

It is an appropriately weird album that is not only disconnected from the modern reality, but is also lighting said reality on fire and then pissing on the embers to extinguish the fire. Obviously an indie release by a white dude from Denver isn’t going to stop the train as it barrels its way to irrelevancy, though it does succeed in creating an alternate time line that is not only awesome but vaguely haunting in the best possible way.

The album is a celebration of hip hop and how deliciously innovative it can be when in the right hands, and this Ancient Mith fellow has some capable hands bro bro. It revels in making weirdness feel normal, and creates its own world where shit heads like me can dance around the Laundromat while migrant workers and junkies wonder what the Fuck kind of drugs I am on.

It is exactly what I look for in my rap music now, something that approached the subject from an outsider’s point of view with a historically grounded point of reference and “real” real life issues. Ancient Mith is masterful with this shit. You feel the history and experience in every song. Half the time I don’t know whether I want to dance, go off the grid, cry, read a book that is steeped in philosophy, or immolate myself as a sacrifice to this music I have such a complex relationship with.

The fact that he can touch upon ALL of this makes him feel like a kindred spirit, someone who fell in love with the potential of an art form and almost adopting it like a religion, only to see it get swallowed up, consumed, shit out, and rendered impotent. It Fucks with you, leaves you lost, but eventually you realize that life is a series of these brutal truths, forcing you to accept it and move on. And The Dead Shall Lie There is the acceptance of this idea and the manifesto that rose out of the shattered remains of the once glorious dream which makes it absolutely brilliant.