Oh, wow. Hi, everyone. Wowthony Wowtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of the new Ho99o9 album, Tomorrow We Escape.

Here we have a brand new record from the duo Ho99o9 or Horror, multi-genre New Jersey natives, a duo that have just dropped their third full-length LP here. They've been around for over 10 years now, but they weren't really making noise until about the late 2010s, which is when they dropped their debut, The United States of Horror, which, admittedly, I was not crazy about.

For a while, I've been more into Ho99o9 in concept than in actuality, because while they do seem deeply influenced by a lot of genres that I have a soft spot for – whether it be hardcore hip hop, hardcore punk, hardcore left field strains of electronic music, industrial rock – rarely have I been blown away by how they put all of it together. Though I definitely appreciate the effort because trying to make all of these seemingly disparate and extreme genres exist together in a way that is harmonious and authentic, it's a difficult task. That's not for the faint of heart. I mean, metaphorically, it's got to be something like solving a Rubik's cube, blindfolded.

So while Ho99o9's progression and output has been pretty gradual since the release of this first album, they've never stopped performing and writing and dropping more stuff. Tomorrow We Escape, in my opinion, is the best they have sounded so far, not only production-wise and writing-wise, but this is also the most seamless I think the duo has ever been in terms of making all of their influences work together at the same time. It looks like they put quite a bit of care into the overall flow of this tracklist as well.

The track "I Miss Home" is a relatively gentle tone setter with dreamy synths, some neo-soul vocal leads, too. And some dramatic spoken word poetry that is set against these increasingly distorted tones and drones. It's dramatic as hell and sounds like spitting through a sonic sandstorm and has to be the most emotional note that Ho99o9 has ever begun on with a record.

The following track, "Escape", though, is a much more cut and dry number, a very direct combo of hardcore punk drums and guitars with some trippy, washed-out alt rock vocals, a few jump the fuck up riffs that end the track off in a grand finale, too. It's all right. But "Target Practice" after that is a lot more unique for its combination of metal riffs, aggressive rap verses, and the plucky analog synthesizer sequences you would usually get out of a Nine Inch Nails song. Not to mention all the horrifying sound effects whaling away in the background. The track packs a lot of details and a lot of guts into two minutes. Plus, I'm loving the snide delivery on some of these bars: "If you want to be Madonna, go back to '86 / Lucky me, another label telling me what's a hit." Whole thing sounds like a mosh pit on a factory floor.

Then after this, we have the even wilder "OK, I'm Reloaded", whose blown out guitars and screamed verses blend hardcore hip hop and hardcore punk so aggressively that they make me forget the differences between the two genres entirely. "Psychic Jumper" is a shift into a low-key number that breaks up the tracklist very nicely, features an entrancing rap beat with some skipping snares, verses that me of guys like Del the Funky Homosapien, Andre 3000 to an extent, too. But the way the keys and song vocals are detuned and out of whack a little bit on the chorus, I could see what it's going for, but it sounds so off to the point where it's hard to legitimately enjoy it.

But "Incline" with Nova Twins, Pink Siifu as well as Young Skrrt – shout out to him, friend of the channel there – is an interesting one because not only does it bring the aggressive raby beats that you might enjoy from classic groups like Prodigy. But you've also, again, got this punk aggression to it with a touch of these trippy autotuned chorus vocals that feel like there's something out of a Travis Scott album. Very wild and unlikely combination of sounds and influences, and yet Ho99o9 makes it work so well. The whole thing sounds like fucking Gorillaz on caffeine pills.

"Upside Down" is a lot more straightforward in its adoption of this old-school new metal, rap metal, revivalist style, something we have been subjected to in a myriad of different forms for the last several years now. But honestly, this track, I think, stands a cut above the rest of all of that shit that is trying to shove this vintage sound down our throats once again, as I think Ho99o9 legitimately manages on this track to bring it back in a way that's actually thrilling. It doesn't just feel like an exercise in nostalgia.

Towards the end of the record, we have a few pretty killer collabs. Greg Puciato of Dillinger Escape Plan Fame sounds absolutely sick on the album. The way his screams and cleans fit over the frantic beats of this album, it just sounds amazing. Ho99o9 really put some crack into this song. The drums as well are so intense. It sounds like you're sitting right behind the kit.

And after this, we also have "Immortal" featuring Chelsea Wolfe, which given how aggressive and explosive the last track was, you wouldn't think Ho99o9 would make such a perfect transition over to something that is so ghosty and alluring, exactly the vibe that you want to hear behind Chelsea Wolfe, with some motivational rap verses laced in here and there to bring it a bit of versatility.

With the final moments of the album, we have "LA Riots", which obviously, honestly, given all the actions over there recently with the troops, cops, ICE, this is a very apt punk rap fusion that essentially illustrates the chaos of our times perfectly. The authoritarianism that is being rebelled against in this moment socially. And then "Godflesh", beyond being obviously title-wise a tribute to a very clear influence on the duo's music, is a very fiery and explosive closer.

But yeah, like I was saying earlier, I truly feel like this record is the best Ho99o9 has ever sounded in terms of songwriting, in terms of production, and once again, making all of their varied influences in extreme music makes sense together. I do think the flow of the album, though, does begin to get a bit choppier toward the back end because the record does progressively begin to feel like, oh, random song going in this direction, random song going in this direction, random song going in this direction. The macro picture of the album isn't the most cohesive you're going to hear in 2025, sure.

But pretty much every single one of these songs is a banger and stands on its own two feet. Sometimes, what more do you want from a record other than just a very strong collection of bops, especially ones that are produced and assembled so creatively, which is why I'm giving this album a strong 7 to a light 8.

Anthony Fantano, Ho99o9, Forever.