Samael Angel by Iras
Artist: Iras | Album: Samael Angel
Some artists focus on the minutiae of their daily lives, crafting art from mundane personal experiences, creating forgettable products that last for a short while. And some artists craft epics based on concepts larger than life. Iras is one such artist. His obsession with a single concept and fleshing out the detail of that concept into an album’s worth of beats and rhymes has given birth to Samael Angel, a story of an angel losing his wings and finding his way in this evil and corrupt world cloaked in humanity and weakness. Before every song, a narration tells the listener what is happening to Samael, which is both helpful to the narrative and irritating because much of it could be covered by the liner notes.
Combining a singsong rap style reminiscent of Faithless and Tricky with smooth beats and solid production work, Iras is able to put together a complete soundtrack to the Samael Angel story. He switches from English to French (he actually sounds much more aggressive in French). The instrumentation, mixing and overall production are great however. The chorus of Track 11 “Lemures Ex Preteritus” is super cool and infectious. And track 9 “Everyday in the Life” stands out in my mind for its smooth instrumentation: moody piano, and vocal harmonies. The work is an amazing solo accomplishment.
Samael Angel is actually part of a proposed trilogy by Iras, whether the three-part saga has already been produced or is still in planning stages remains to be seen. All we know is that this album is proof that one man with vision can make something amazing.
DETAILS:
17 MP3s encoded at approx. 256 kbps 44.1 kHz stereo. Zip file for album is 129 MB. Total tun time: 1:05:20
Download the entire album in a single zip file (129 MB) from a file uploader site or via the artist’s website: http://www.irasworld.com/download
Artist Website: IrasWorld
Iras wears a mask because his art speaks for itself
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