In the late eighties and early nineties, Robert Diggs and Paul Huston leave the Tommy Boy label, both unhappy: Diggs's career was nipped in the bud due to plaintive commercial needs of the label, while the records of the Huston group (Stetsasonic) don't get a commercial response equal to the excellent response received from the critics, the label doesn't promote their records, which sell few copies compared to their potential. Towards the end of 1990, Huston aka Prince Paul is tired of making beats for De La Soul: he decides to call Stetsasonic's MC Arnold "Frukwan" Hamilton, rapper Anthony "Poetic" Berkeley, who signed to his fledgling Dew Doo Man Records, which had secured a deal with Russell Simmons' Rush Associated Labels shortly before closing, and manages to reconnect with Diggs aka RZA, whom he met during the time of both at Tommy Boy: the concept of the record is an idea of Prince Paul, while the founder of the Wu-Tang Clan is credited for the choice of the name. The four boys take different monikers for the making of the album: Frukwan is The Gatekeeper, RZA is The RZArector, Too Poetic is The Grym Reaper, finally Prince Paul is The Undertaker.
Most of the beats are created by Prince Paul, the remaining production is done by RZA, the RZA mentor RNS, Gatekeeper, Mr. Sime and one beat is credited to Gravediggaz. The effort maintains Wu-Tang connotations, presenting as guests the affiliates Scientific Shabazz and Killah Priest of Sunz of Man, and Dreddy Kruger of Royal Fam, all making their debut in the rap game. The production is solid, at times excellent, thanks to great dark, gloomy, dystopian samples – half of the disc features tracks composed of layered samples, as if they had been recorded before the "Grand Upright v. Warner Bros. Records" judgement – and hard midtempo drums, which give dark and eerie vibes in most cuts: on this kind of boom bap, The Gatekeeper, The Grym Reaper and The RZArector offer humorous and funny, dark, overly-violent horror lyrics, performed with a hardcore, syncopated, slow, dark style, sometimes shouting, often more cumbersome than flowing, but always fit to the rhythms.
Gravediggaz debut album, third LP in the Wu discography after the solo debut of GZA and the debut of the Wu-Tang Clan: this album was recorded earlier than "36 Chambers", nevertheless, it comes out nine months later. The LP combines typical Wu elements brought by RZA, including affiliate guests and a raw, direct and tight lyricism, and many legacies that Prince Paul leaves from his De La Soul period, including the numerous skits, which here don't bother and allow the group to give more jabs. RZA performs on all tracks, while Frukwan and Too Poetic skip a cut each, not participating in "2 Cups of Blood" and "Diary of a Madman", respectively. Masta Ace drops a couple of uncredited bars in the "Deathrap" intro, while Sunz of Man and Dreddy Kruger leave their rookie footprints with solid performance.
Composed of 16 cuts (5 skits) and 52 minutes of listening, the album is released by Gee Street and distributed by Island Records, a label in the PolyGram orbit: it obtains a good commercial success, better than "36 Chambers", reaching the top ten among rap records and enjoying the approval of critics. Released in the European market with the original title "Niggamortis" and with the "Pass the Shovel" song (removed in US), the CD is considered a classic of the horrorcore genre and one of the most influential works in hip-hop, despite not being one of the first horrorcore records and not to be considered a pioneer neither lyrically, with arguments that you can find in other previous horrorcore releases, nor musically, with a choice of rhythms that comes close to the new-dark sound that New York was preparing to welcome at the time. That said, it deserves the definition of a «horrorcore classic»: as a non-fan of the subgenre, this album is one of the most accessible, coherent and fun horrorcore projects you can find.
Highlights: "Constant Elevation", "Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide", "Defective Trip (Trippin'), "1-800 Suicide", "Diary of a Madman", "Graveyard Chamber".
Rating: 8.5/10.
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