Alla Xul Elu – “Mauxuleum” (Album Review)

This is the 4th full-length album from Ohio horrorcore trio Alla Xul Elu. Starting off as a duo, Billy Obey & Joey Black started making noise in the underground by releasing their first 2 albums Head of Horns & Sci-Co in 2015. Couple years later, Lee Carver joined & they dropped their debut EP Necronomichron that same year. However it wasn’t until 2018 that the Xul made their biggest break when Twiztid signing them to their label Majik Ninja Entertainment, dropping their 3rd album The Almighty shortly after & then their 2nd EP Church of Xul last spring to universal acclaim. Fast forward to now, Xul is enlisting Slasher Dave to help take listeners a trip into the Mauxuleum.

After the “E.N.D.”, the title track that kicks the album talks about the Mauxuleum being worse than Hell over a ghostly beat, but then the next song “Blood Moon & Back” is an unexpectedly dark love tune that goes over better than you’d expect. The track “Rituals of Rot” talks about becoming undead over a spine-tingling beat while the song “Donna, The Dead” talks about the titular Donda taking her own life over a groggy instrumental.

The song “L.I.F.E. (Let It Fucking End)” talks about how going on living is a joke over an industrial beat while the track “Deathbed” talking about their desire to rest in peace for eternity over an abrasively eerie instrumental. The song “Nails” talks about failing when they try over a bass-heavy instrumental while the track “Rigor Erectus” talks about necrophilia over a somewhat funky boom bap beat.

The song “Deadline” talks about purgatory over an horror movie-esque instrumental with some heavy guitars during the hook while the track “Random Axe of Violence” portrays themselves as serial killers over an intoxicating beat. The song “Mask Made Me Do It” talks about their forever faces over a Frankenstein-like beat fusing boom bap, metal & even trap whereas “The Harvester” that finishes the album off talks about how there’s no escaping from the titular character’s clutch over a bleak instrumental with a guitar wailing in the background.

These guys have become the greatest horrorcore act in recent memory & they really outdid themselves on this new album over here. Not only do the lyrics continue to delve deeper into more disturbing territory, but Slasher Dave really hones it & cooks up some of the best production of his entire career.

Score: 9/10