Born in Africa and now living in Southern France, Iras is a true renaissance man. Tired of playing politics with music business, he’s releasing his entire discography (currently “Samael Angel”) through creative commons on June 25th.
His music weaves a story that is captivating and has a depth hardly ever reached in music before. His music is hard to describe, it ranges from Horrorcore/ Nerdcore with a healthy dose of classical music to something that could be found on the Top 40 chart.
Full of allusions and references to everything from the Bible to Ancient history. This concept album’s learning curve is easily shortened with the attached liner notes. The true level of obsession that Iras’s music illustrates is mind boggling in its splendour.
Rapping in everything from English, French, Ewe, Latin and German “Samael Angel’ shows his musical diversity through musical vignettes that will be appreciated in repeat listening. I do admit that Iras’s rapping might not be for everyone. Sometimes, it has grammatical and orthographic mistakes and he raps through a heavy accent, but when you invest time in it you see the beauty in its imperfections. As Iras states on his website “I, as an individual, don’t matter only my art does.”
Download links:
Review By: Shawn Alexander Roy
[Rating: 4/5]