Figure 0.9. - Casket (based on a true story). Review.

If you've read any of my blogs before you'll probably be familiar with Crime and Punishment 2011. If you aren't then I'll give Figure 0.9. a bit of context. CPK were a short lived birmingham group who for little over two years terrified and confused basements across the country with their aggressive mix of grime inspired bars, heavy metal guitar samples, guttural screaming and quirky beats. Dan Carter was notable for spending much of these shows, jumping around, rolling about on the floor and getting into peoples faces. Dan's début album (which came out back in September, I'm late writing this), is both the closest thing the world will see to a CPK album and a bold step forward into being a solo artist.
When I interviewed Dan back in August he said that "A running theme of the album is believing in yourself and not really caring what other people think of you" and that "I’ve tried to make it as much like a proper album as possible". For an independently released début band-camp project 'Casket' is very much like a proper album. The production is clean, punchy and features a varied mix of sounds. There's few features, a few skits and it clocks in at 13 songs in 39 minutes. Casket is a far cry from the bloated, feature heavy mix-tapes most rap artists make their names with.
'Casket' begins with a short cocktail of trap beats, eerie piano melodies and white noise synths, while it may only be 50 seconds long it's a statement of intent, as Figure 0.9 points out that 'I'm not Dan Carter any more, I'm no longer broken, my name is Figure 0.9. and I'm about to split the earth open'. However Dan Carter does reappear on a guest verse on 'Killer MC' as Figure 0.9. cheers on his former self. Salem Witch Trials carries on the dark tone of the intro, with it's surprisingly catchy hook and white noise synths, backing track. Dan uses this track and many others to talk openly about his own mental health struggles, stating that 'the world has tried to kill me but I'm kicking back and screaming'. Dan uses the few skits on this album to casually discuss mental health, love, depression and his views on life in general. 'Dragon' and 'Reflecting' are also both dark grime tinged bangers, the former, featuring more sampled guitars and the latter a feature from his former bandmate Zero.

Amaryllis has another feature from another former CPK member Joe Jones. Who ditches his usual screams for an unsettling spoken word segment. While Dan raps from the heart about love and his girlfriend, while earlier tracks mix personal confessions with horror-core bravado, 'Amaryllis' features touching tributes to his girlfriend such as 'I know that you don't feel confident, but you light up the room believe it', over a burial style garage beat. Much of Casket shows Dan both growing as a person and honing his craft as an MC. Dan references this growth on 'treehouse' admitting that 'When I write I write about pain in my life'. Casket's closer and title track uses Placebo's 'Follow the cops back home' as a backdrop for a cathartic and emotional climax to an album that deserves far more attention.

Pay what you like here
https://figure09.bandcamp.com/album/casket-based-on-a-true-story

https://burminum.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/interview-with-figure09.html
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