Da End in Bloomington, MN

Da End
furthers the horrorcore style that
Three 6 Mafia
had unveiled on their cult favorite
Mystic Stylez
debut, except here the overall tone is one of outright violence rather than eerie ominousness. Moreover, the sound quality here is much improved, as producers
Juicy J
and
DJ Paul
lay down the sort of hard-hitting, bottom-heavy beats that would define not only the remainder of their career but that of the entire
Dirty South
movement that would soon blossom. Much like the very similar
Chapter 2
album that would follow within a year's time, the balance here between the underground essence of
, typified by the horrorcore lyrics and haunting ambience, and the accessibility of latter-day
, typified by the markedly improved sound quality and more developed song structures, makes
an excellent starting point for the uninitiated. Discriminating consumers, however, should note that several of the better songs here would be reprised on the more widely available
. ~ Jason Birchmeier