This is the 6th full-length album from Key Largo, Floridian emcee Darby O’Trill. Emerging in the fall of 2018 off his full-length debut Blood, Guts & a Whole Lotta Love, would go on to follow it with Fester almost a year later & has extensively been working with Chapter 17/Psychopathic Records in-house producer Devereaux by bringing him into the cut to fully produce his 3rd album Piecemeal to critical acclaim during the COVID-19 pandemic. Darby’s eventually signed a 1-album deal with Lyrikal Snuff Productionz & fulfilled it over a year ago with Gully, which is a modern day wicked shit classic. Amputate was a solid prelude to The Tomb & the latter was even better, but is sticking with Devereaux once more for his C17 debut Creek.
“The Secret of the Mud” begins our journey with a shimmery trap instrumental & Darb bringing up the fact that pussies get stomped on only to have their bodies dumped in the swamp whereas “Spinal Fluid Smoothie” works in a mystic loop & hi-hats talking about being a piece of shit. “Red Stain on a White Robe” featuring HEXXX has a grungier trap groove declaring no one’s safe with their hatchets on them, but then “A Sense of Entitlement Doesn’t Make Up for a Lack of Happiness” morbidly wakes up to scream fuck positivity.
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Meanwhile, “The Return of the Paperboy” goes head-on trap metal as he freshly throws it back to his Paperboy days just before “A Moon Fit For Building Castles Under” featuring Ouija Macc has a trippier flare to the beat talking about having hope in death after fearing it for so long. “Whispers From the Medicine Cabinet” experiments with boom bap detailing his degenerate lifestyle leading into the ghoulish trap cut “I Hate People Who Don’t Know When to Shut Up” talking about death surrounding him.
“Within the Realm of Misery” admits that all he’s ever known is misery on top of a moody backdrop & hi-hats while “Neverending Ball Itch” humorously talks about his nuts itching hoping that it’ll go away over a plinky trap beat. “Massive Moron Mode” brings in the heavy guitars & hi-hats yet again having no time for any fuck shit while “The Shaman Requires a Sacrifice for His Services” gives me a woozier vibe talking about dark magic.
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Sagan Ummo’s verse during the backend of “Poison in the Junta” is easily the most distinctive feature on the album as they discuss feeling slightly stupid off the loud pack with an aggressive instrumental, but the glitchy “Put a Bullet in the Head of Every Bigot on the Planet” picks things up a bit by setting out to murder every prejudiced person alive prior to the song “Room with a Moose” talks about breaking bodies down into pieces over cloud trap beat.
The penultimate track “All Day I Dream About Suffering” says it all subject matter-wise referencing the KoЯn single “A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I Dream About Sex)” on top of a spacious instrumental with hi-hats that is until “I Use Roach Guts to Sweeten My Coffee” rounds out Darby’s official Chapter 17 debut with a distorted trap heater talking about the only way he’ll feel alive is if he crawls in a hole & dies.
Amputate & The Tomb were both phat in their own rights, but Creek over here is right behind Gully for Darby’s strongest album to date & his 2nd modern day wicked shit classic. Devereaux’s production is still rooted into the trap sound for the most part with the exception of a couple stylistic detours, Maezi666’s engineering is top notch & the Key Largo emcee cohesively takes us through what awaits beneath the surface.
Score: 9/10