Hidden Fortress
Hidden Fortress
By Thomas Quinlan

The Vancouver duo of Hidden Fortress has had one hell of a hard knock life. Raised by an undead Minotaur only to be unleashed on the world as bloodthirsty, traumatized monsters, producer DJ UsdNeedls and MC "nofutureface" release their angst via their twisted vision of horrorcore. DJ UsdNeedls fashions his Frankenstein monster-like productions by digging up slamming but simple drum breaks, bass-heavy synth and unusual sounds that give the music a dark and spacey vibe. Unlike a lot of horrorcore though, the music changes and grows so it's never boring, also blending almost flawlessly from one track to the next. While the music lends itself quite well to the sub-genre, it's the lyrics that push Hidden Fortress into horrorcore territory, with "nofutureface" rapping about blood, dead bodies and zombies with fangs — a favourite subject that's covered on intro track "FreshKill," as well as "TheCreepShow," "I, Braineater" and "GoGygaxGo," a song about their surrogate father, Gygax the Zombie Minotaur. Hidden Fortress have just what horrorcore needs: more brains! (Independent)
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