Blade of the Ronin

"I'd be overselling this record if I claimed that it was exciting, intellectually stimulating, or innovative, but at the same time, I'd be selling it short if I didn't respect the fact that Blade of the Ronin is the first rap album I've heard in a very long time that pays absolutely no heed to market trends. None of these songs were written for the radio or the club, and none would be improved if/when blasted from car stereos on sweaty afternoons. Blade of the Ronin's greatest success lies not in avoiding the commonplace, but rather in their commitment to pre-SDCC juvenilia, as well as to a more holistic sense of sincerity. Even if Cannibal Ox fall prey to a few too many groaner lines, there's no pun so obvious or reference shoehorned in indelicately enough that could detract from the immersive quality of their overgrown manchild fantasias".

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"There's no doubt that Blade of the Ronin is the work of two very particular and oversized personalities, but the album does not feel like either a blast of fresh air or a return to form after wayward solo careers. Where The Cold Vein felt like an alien object dropped to Earth, Ronin arrives in 2015 sounding a bit commonplace. That's not totally Can Ox's fault: By now, indie rap of this sort has become a recognizable subgenre in the wake of so many DOOM alteregos, Anticon releases and a continuing stream of Internet-celebrated underground rappers with absurd or psychedelic tendencies".

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