Crime and Punishmemnt 2011 - Null Ep Review

https://crimepunishment2011.bandcamp.com/

Right from the start 'Paralysed' leaps into action with deep bass, trap style beats and dark synths. Dan opens the tune with fast bars and some his darkest bars to date. CPK's last EP began with the faintly comedic 'House of Pain'. CPK have admitted to hating that song and paralysed is an obvious step in another direction. As usual Joey Sniper screams out the hook* while Dan and Glitch share bars which blatantly talk of mental health problems. Dan raps about how life is a bitch and he fucked it, suicide and 'dancing with Satan'. This darkness is balanced by some of the best beats Jason PV has produced to date. Paralysed may be a pretty depressing tune but it's surprisingly catchy. It could easily be rapped over by Desiigner or Future.
'Null' carries on in a similar vein, with more trap style beats but also some samples of traditional Indian music. Dan raps of burning down schools and how he's 'living in a porno because everyone gets fucked in my movie'. There's a very short guest verse from their mate Damian Hughes, which doesn't change the vibe at all. Much of the song feels very sparse with the backing track and verses both being given time to breath. It doesn't seem as rushed as a lot of modern day rap. 
The lead single from this EP is 'Rucksack'. Their usual heavy metal style screams and guitars are offset by clicky trap beats and (old School) Skrillex-eqse womps. Rucksack is their go at a protest song. There's a real sense of punk rock rebellion amongst the pleas that 'changes have to be made'.
CPK usually announce that they're about to play 'There's a reason storms are named after people' by warning that it's a very depressing song. It's a story of domestic violence, over a sparse backdrop of piano and distorted guitar. During their live shows this song can be very unsettling and it still has more or less the same effect listening at home. My only real complaint is that it feels like one of those acoustic Slipknot songs where they've tried a little bit too hard to be creepy.
While all of CPK are open about their love for grime music, the MC's this EP reminds me of the most are Eminem and Tyler, The Creator. While none of the tracks here are quite as gory in their imagery, and none of the lyrics are quite as violent, There is a similarity in their delivery, especially from Dan Carter. This is all much more Mashall Mathers than Slim Shady. While both Tyler and Eminem use black humour to their advantage, 'Null' is just black. Despite my critique this is a solid EP. It's well produced, Dan and Glitch both pull out some great bars, and overall CPK still sound very unique. Now go see them live.

* I don't really know how to wrote about screams. I don't listen to much metal