Band – Wreck the System
Album / Label – WreckFest / Wreck The System Recordings LLC
Rating – 4 / 5

Combining their love of anime and video games with Hip-Hop, Wreck The System have forged a path that crosses-over from Nerdcore to the mainstream. Their latest album, WreckFest, takes you inside the world of conventions that many wrongly believe is just for the freaks and geeks of society. It’s scheduled for release on January 4, 2018.

The Wreck the System crew is led by overall badass MC Lady J, and comprises producer Cam 3 (Charles A. McDougle III), freestyle MC Osiris Green and Dirty Pop diva Twill Distilled.

WreckFest is a journey for the uninitiated, aurally enticing the listener to open their mind to the endless possibilities. The only thing holding you back is… you.

“Here we are guys… the doors, the only thing standing between us and the ultimate con experience. I just hope you’re ready. Let’s step inside…” ~ Welcome 2 WreckFest

Starting off with Culture Shock, Osiris green sets the tone for the first-timer, weaving a tale of untold sights before Lady J expands on Green’s riff. It’s all overtop a steady, driving beat. The lyrical styling is easy on the ears, as the crew takes you slowly deeper into a new world.

Twill Distilled diva-like vocal work begins Overload Interlude, a nice bridge into the world of Nerdcore. The beat gets darker and much dirtier with Live @ The Barcade, featuring MegaRan setting a hypnotic tone, before concluding with a spoken word gaming segment.

Girls @ Cons features Shubzilla, with the hip-hop beat almost trance-like in its simplicity. But, it’s that simplicity that makes your toes start tapping in-time to the rhythm. From almost scat-like rhyming to angelic vocals, the song envelopes you in warmth.

The calm before the storm hits you with Con Love, with the tempo of the rhymes increasing, as Lady J soothes your soul. In a way, it’s very much a “bedroom” number that opens-up a world of possibilities. The spoken word bridge at the end showcases the drama that can abound.

Wreck The System “WreckFest” – back cover

Con-Drama shows that even nerds have relationship drama, no matter how fleeting that relationship is. Lyrically, it gets a bit dark in its content, although the hypnotic beat saves the number. Essentially, it’s a warning for the con newbie.

The first single from the album assaults you next, with Hotel Party carrying a driving beat that made me want to join the party post haste. It paints a picture that anyone who parties at conventions knows all too well. The beat is infectious, worming its way into your aural synapses, making them fire exponentially faster.

The most mainstream song on the album is Rave, an accessible number that could be heard in most any club throughout the world. While Twill Distilled can throw down lyrics as well as the rest of the crew, it’s her diva-like styling that makes this track work.

Transitioning into High As Shit, the beat gets toned-down to go serenely well with floating quality of the tune as CAM 3 and Osiris Green take you on a journey. For the uninitiated, this track is very much a “headphones” type of song; earbuds will not cut the mustard.

Cranking the beat to the roof, WreckLive! Takes you from the serenity of the previous track to beating a path to the dancefloor as fast as you can. “Everybody jump, jump…” gets into your bloodstream, making your body move in ways you might not have thought possible. It amounts to the culmination of a fun-filled con weekend.

Post Con Depression takes the tone down a notch, weaving a tale of re-entering the “real” world of jobs and other mundane fare. “How can I shake these doldrums?” is an apt metaphor of what it must be like to reminisce about what you had just been a part of. The beat is soothing, although somewhat melancholy.

The final track, One More Day, completes the journey for the con newbie, as the story come full-circle. Distilled to its core, Lady J implores you to “Be who you are without fear.”

The production of the album is top-notch, washing a lyrical and musical soundscape over and around the listener. It also showcases a more mature sound for the crew, as they do their best to bring their message to the mainstream.

I, for one, hope that they bring the wonderful world of Wreck The System to one of the Columbus cons in 2018. It promises to be a show that this writer would not miss.

Ed. –  Read our interview with Twill Distilled  with MIMC from April 11, 2017 HERE

Wreck The System – Hotel Party