Wednesday 5 August 2020

Collector Reviews: Force Of Habit by Merkules & Evil Ebenezer

On their collaborative EP, Force Of Habit, Merkules and Evil Ebenezer are both celebrating and challenging each other.

Though Merkules and Evil have always shared similar fan bases and have spent years making music together, the idea of a collaborative project started rather spontaneously. News on the upcoming project was drawn out by both MCs throughout spring of 2020 on their social media pages and was teased with two singles. The EP officially hitting stores in April of that year and two music videos were also made.

Merkules and Evil Ebenezer have always been solid artists for me. I've followed more than a few albums cycles from each of them have seen countless concerts from them in the west of Canada. I also noticed they almost exclusively with C-Lance and Aaron Hiltz on most of the project. Some of Merkules biggest singles have been on their production and the majority of Evils music as of late has been as well. So going into this, I expected nothing but three trusted brands with charting power coming together for something that could at the very least, be good.

Force of Habit kicks off with the opening track "On Us". I love the keys that C-Lance brings in as they're bright and tropical. The drum line is decent enough with rumbling kick drums and sharp snares. Merkules opens the track with some relaxing braggadocio as he travels from the studio to extravagant vacation spots. I love the way Evil comes in in the chorus even if his verse has questionable lines like "Bout to pull up at the bank bustin' shots at the teller." What are we shooting bank tellers for? Let the young lady make her way in the world. I did go on to enjoy the rest of his verse where Evil alludes to his mental state and the pressures of psychiatrists. For an opener its cool but, not my favourite.

The most bombastic anthem of this record is definitely "Armed & Dangerous". C-Lance assembles this gigantic armada of synth leads and swells while Aaron Hiltz smashes these wild guitar riffs on the chorus. Merkules and Evil both lend their most intimidating lines as possible with solid quotables. Merkules is pulling up to your house with the cannon and is ready to take your Mom and brother out if it gets to you. Evil to me has the better similes though like "Kush by the pound and it reek like B.O., Strap by my waist and it sing like Ne-Yo." The drum pattern isn't really as hard as it could've been but its quick and works for the guys to build flows off of.

"California" is possibly my favourite on the record. This is where a lot of the forlorn themes of Merkules and Evils previous works starts to come together in an exciting way. Merkules laments the isolation that comes with moving away from many of his contemporaries as his career grows as well as the disconnect he feels with his fans. He also has a real grim nod towards the machete attack he endured in his youth and the PTSD symptoms that come with it. Evil wrestles with suicidal thoughts and desertion as he holds his loved ones one final time. The real selling point of this song is just how dynamic each of their verses are. Merkules is pushing his vocal range to higher notes and leads us into the chorus wonderfully and Evil is just floating on this beat as well. I love the way C-Lance set these hi hats up as they twirl around the guitar leads from Aaron Hiltz. Excellent song with some of the best vocal performances on the record.

The lead singe definitely had the potential to be polarizing. I found "With You" to be a really sweet moment, however. Both MCs have plenty of ballads written around romance but, this one is different for a number of reasons. First off, Merkules is singing as raw as I've heard him in a minute as theres no layering or touch ups to his voice at all. There's nowhere else to focus but on his lyrics because hes right there in the center of the mix. Secondly, Evil enters the song much differently as he serenades his way through the second verse. The instrumental starts with these really plucky guitar licks before this super intricate and upbeat drum pattern picks the pace up. Stand outside lines from Merkules such as likening his love to Junior High and Evil recalling introducing his wife to his Mom are welcomed moments of sincerity as well. Tie that all up with the final chorus and this one is a big highlight.

Though there's connective tissue from the previous track, Evil takes his solo song in a more complex direction. C-Lance and Aaron Hiltz come together for a score that's really forlorn but can still feel triumphant and resilient. As the track saunters in with Evil harmonizing amongst the lead guitars, I'm digging the placements of the producer tag before the drums come in. C-Lance laces up these rapid fire snares and resounding claps which Evil is just pouring his heart over. His lyrics shift from having to ditch addictive and violent tendencies all for the stability of his family, to pulling himself out of that depression with all his strength in the second verse. Matter of fact, this second verse is a contender for best verse on the record. Really touching moment and everything you'd want out of a track with this tone.

"Back In My Bag" is likely my second favourite. Stuey Kubrick produces this one with massive sub bass and droning synths. The drums are decent enough for the flavours of drill and trap that this song is emulating. On a beat like this is really the synth lead and bass that we're here for and they both are as obnoxious as they need to be. I love the rhymes scheme in Merks verse where he raps "I don't got time for the chit chat, click clack bang! Feel the weight from the kick back/Never been one for the kiss ass, get mad, go and get a map where you live at" Also the his shit talking about just how many people you gotta get through before you get to him adds a mafioso tone to the track as well. Evil replies in kind with further grittiness like "Words to the stick I ain't working legit, got the burner to turn up and turn out your clique/I'm burning these vermins the furnace is lit I'm touring Alberta to Europe and shit" Syllable schemes are crazy on this one. A banger in every sense.

The final act starts to set in with "Eyelidz" where Merkules rocks his own solo track. C_Lance returns to the boards with peppy synth notes and string sections mixed with sharp tambourines. Its a really triumphant moment where Merkules compares the humble beginnings of dive bars and chasing his dream to losing his old friends and feeling disenchantment towards his friends he met in his come up. Though I do love the flow that Merkules tackles each song with, there is still a few lines that feel below Merks pen. I found him likening somebodies mortgage to the price of his jewelry, to be pretty much the same as him mentioning the implied price of his jeans in the second verse. I do love the pace and complexity of his rhyme schemes and slant rhymes, however. Somehow he manages to make filet mignon rhyme and that's not something you hear everyday. This song isn't bad but it's not as strong as the tracks it's sandwiched between either.

"Fake Love". C-Lance is really in his bag on this closer track with subdued piano lines and a knocking drum line. The themes of this record really tie together on Merkules lines like "Another day, another thing to overthink/Now run away pour another drink and over drink." While Merkules portrays the actual moment of descending into depression Evil shows the resolve and triumph of reflecting on that moment from a better place in his finishing bars "So I'm locking the door on all you leeches and fakes/All you greasy blood suckers, weasels and snakes." The chorus is incredible too with Merkules echoing the lines of Evil as they both are driving people away for different reasons. Also I'd be remiss if I didn't praise saxophone player Johnny McCormack on his playing and the great solo we get from him at the end of the track. He plays out the whole album but also helps "Fake Love" to feel desolate and strong at the same time. The song succeeds because of Merk and Evils personal experiences and compelling lyrics but also because it progresses so tastefully as well.

Pros: Merkules and Evil do get together for some truly excellent music here. I'm also appreciative of C-Lance trying his hand at more contemporary production as he plays with trap percussion and hi hats quite a bit here. Aaron Hiltz and Johnny McCormack add impressive musicianship as well on the songs that feature them. This EP is at its their best when we get to see Merkules and Evil inching past their comfort zone for more melody as well as vulnerability. I think Evil was the perfect partner to get Merkules to explore his vocal range as well as they both have standout vocal performances all over the EP. If Merkules is singing this confidently and this free of editing on his upcoming solo record, then I'm sold already. 

Cons: I can see it being a turn off for three out of eight songs to be relationship cuts but, to me the weaker points on the record actually end up being the bangers. Merkules and Evil do their best at threatening and intimidating the listener but its not delivered with the same conviction or taste as the more personal moments. I also think even though I'm digging C-Lance trying more hi hats and trap percussion by the time "Fake Love" shows up in the tracklisting, a fat snare like that was too little too late. There's also a few verses scattered here that I could easily forget about.

I think Force Of Habit is good enough. The production is brightly coloured while Merkules and Evil Ebenezer really sharpen each other. I still believe theres more territory to be explored in terms of how Merk and Evil function as a duo. For a project that the two of them can wrote and recorded in a day, its pretty good. All the songs come in the right order, even if we still have the odd verse of forgettable bragging. I think C-Lance, Hiltz, Kubrick and McCormack are providing instrumentation that really elevates the record on more than a few songs here too. All that being said, if Merkules and Evil Ebenezer want to fine tune their chemistry beyond this little experiment and see what they're capable of on a collaborative LP, I think the ingredients for that to be successful are here. They could really flesh themselves out as partners in rhyme if they tackle a dozen or so songs and really spend some time crafting new things. Doubling down on what already makes them both great is still enough to make this one appetizing though.