Skribbal Surprise Releases “Man with the Screaming Brain” on Bandcamp (EP Review)

This is the 3rd EP from Los Angeles emcee Skribbal. Coming up in 2016 off the strength of his full-length debut Drug Spun Funk, this would catch the attention of the rising Wisconsin underground label Force 5 Records & they would put out his sophomore effort Skinwalker a couple years later. But once Skribbal dropped his debut EP Quarantine Sessions a month after the pandemic started, he would leave the label to form his own Sony Music imprint Hell Patrol Records & celebrated this newfound independence by dropping his 3rd album Black Eyed Children last spring distancing himself from horrorcore in favor of a more hardcore hip hop style. However after dropping In Their Blood…& from the Gutter a couple months back, Skribbal is already following it up by dropping Man with the Screaming Brain on his Bandcamp out of nowhere.

“Child of the State” kicks off the whole EP on some jazzy boom bap shit talking about what he’s learned throughout the course of his life whereas the Joe Blak-assisted “At War with the Enemy” works in some dusty drums & somber piano chords to spit some battle raps. The title track has a cloudy trap vibe taking about smoking motherfuckers while the penultimate song “Biz Markie” incorporates some organs to pay homage to the late Juice Crew member of the same name. Kaze Jones then comes into the picture for the closer “Shogun Assassins”, which fuses an operatic vocal sample with some pianos declaring themselves as the dynamic duo. 

Now in comparison to In Their Blood…& from the Gutter being inspired by Dave Berkowitz, he takes it back to the hardcore style of Black Eyed Childrenon Man with the Screaming Brain. The features are bit underwhelming, but Skribbal manages to deliver some impressive performances on top of production of the traditional boom bap style.

Score: 7/10