Cypress Hill - Rise Up

Cypress Hill

Rise Up

3.5/5

Priority Records

Cypress Hill is an odd band. In 1991, they released their debut hip-hop album and staggeringly, the rock community accepted i. That’s not a sentence you read often. It’s perhaps not surprising then, that since then, they’ve strived to add a rock element to their albums. This shows on Rise Up.

Still mainly a hip-hop album, Rise Up overflows with some of the fantastic West Coast rap which got them where they are. ‘It Ain’t Nothin’’ is up there with any of their early songs; A raw nineties feel and the trademarked aggression that won them so many fans to start with. However, there’s also a shockingly generic collaboration with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park in the form of ‘Carry Me Away.’

Where the praise most lies on this album though is on the heavier edges. System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian brings one of the most fiercely frantic riffs you’ll hear all year in ‘Trouble Seeker’ and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello appears on ‘Rise Up’ a tune with serious power and bounce.

Rise Up hasn’t tweaked the formula from their past few releases too much, but they’ve certainly executed it better. Their best album in a decade.