Jedi Mind Tricks & Ill Bill - Heavy Metal Kings

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_BeP4i6w2s]

My metal artists feature at Stylus today highlights Larry Carroll, who did the covers for Slayer’s Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss, and Christ Illusion. He’s also doing the cover for The Hour of Reprisal, the upcoming album by Ill Bill of Non Phixion fame.

It’s no coincidence that the title is a Slayer lyric. Ill Bill and his brother Necro once played in a death metal band called Injustice, and Non Phixion’s logo was a tribute to Voivod’s. His MySpace has a song that’s hip hop lyrics over full-on metal, but the flows don’t mesh well with the riffs. Bad Brains’ H.R. and Daryl Jenifer contribute to The Hour of Reprisal, which evidently will include vocal hooks from Max Cavalera and Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage.

The metal doesn’t stop there. Ill Bill dropped a verse on Jedi Mind Tricks’ “Heavy Metal Kings,” in which “heavy metal” refers to guns, not music. But JMT’S Vinnie Paz says, “We’re basically trying to convey the energy of old-school metal, real rugged shit – but in hip hop.” The single’s cover is totally metal, as is the title of its album – Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell. The album even takes song titles directly from Slayer, Venom, Amorphis, Sinergy, and Trivium.

Ill Bill’s verse features the lines, “I’m a Slayer album personified,” and “Blast the black metal at you like Danny Lilker.” The latter is technically true, as Lilker has done time in black metal bands Hemlock and Overlord Exterminator. BM is hardly Lilker’s calling card, though, so maybe Ill Bill’s metal knowledge runs deep?

In the song’s video, Paz wears shirts of Iron Maiden and Terror (he seems to be rocking Nike’s Iron Maiden trainers in the making-of video below, ). A limited edition of the album even had a remix of the song with Terror on guitars. R.A. the Rugged Man makes a cameo in the video; he’s oddly reminiscent of SFU’s Chris Barnes. The making-of video below is quite enjoyable, so check it out.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHjkPW-zy4Y]