Sadistik - Horrorcore Adjacent

[ComicVomit]

Sadistik isn't a horrorcore rapper; he came out of the 2000s alternative rap scene (think Eyedea, Sage Francis, and Atmosphere) and primarily writes about his emotions, depression, and things hes going through. The reason I'm writing this and calling him horrorcore adjacent is becuase he has consistently referenced/used horror films, serial killers, cryptids, and other spooky shit as metaphors in his bars. His sound as shifted over time and he probably sounds closer to horrorcore on his more aggressive songs nowadays but the references to horror flicks have always been there.

When I left the horrorcore scene in the early 2010s Sadistik was already one of my favorite artist for one of the same reasons I fell in love with horrorcore as a genre initially: all the horror movie references I could actually relate too. If you're a fan of hip hop outside of horrorcore but still want similar imagery def check Sadistik out. The amount of films I've looked up becuase of his lyrics probably matches the amount of horror films I looked up becuase of horrorcore when I was in high school (shout out to Monsta Squad cus thier album made me buy a shit load of Italian horror). But anyway, this is long ass post so enjoy the play list and the notes I wrote down for each song in it. Not super in depth but I point out some references and qoute my favriote bars.

TL;DR Sadistik is an artist that uses horror films and serial killers as metaphor and on his more aggressive songs has a similar vibe to horrorcore as a genre. Listen to the playlist.

[ComicVomit]

Notes:

Blue Sunshine

"My style is gory like an Edgar Allan story
Monkey’s paw, allegory, fucking raw, category
Edward Gorey, sorted sorta morbid, chloroform for ‘em
Fuck their foreign forums, I’ll deform 'em with some four-inch forceps"

The song title is also a reference to a 70s horror film about a bad batch of acid causing people to murder others.

In Heaven

This song samples and references the movie Eraserhead.

Salem Witches

"I'm necromancer, high as fuck watching Nekromantik
Cut the lights for the Devils magic
Blood of Christ, let's get romantic"

This is a banger with a horrorcore vibe.

Yokai

This songs references a bunch of J horror films (including Audition and Lady Snow Blood) and the french horror movie Irreversible by Gasper Noe.

"Everywhere I go there is snow
Life is so unfair I know
Lady Snowblood bitching at me
I’m unbearable
Like Ivan The Terrible
Both her eyes are peridots
Sometimes I wanna tear em out
They stare into my barren soul
Assuming I’m Asami, Audition
(eerie, eerie, eerie)
Let me put some needles on your skin
(kiri, kiri, kiri)
On that Hara-Kiri feeling Irreversible
Extinguisher to skull
Watch me wrap these fingers around my throat"

Heaves Gate Away Team

Yep, its a song that uses the Heavens Gate cult mass suicide as a metaphor for unhealthy ways of dealing with depression.

"Phenobarbital mixed with apple sauce and vodka
Who needs rationale when they ration out the dogma
Promises of gods in their passages of karma
Mr. Applewhite can turn the average to a martyr
Purple jumpsuits with the patches on the left
39 aftermaths happened in those beds
39 had to gasp canceling their breath
From the 39 plastic bags wrapped around their heads
Deliver us from deliverance
Gimme gimme love or barbiturates
Itchy trigger fingers going numb from the bitterness
They said I'll never fade
Just enter Heaven’s Gate"

"dying off just to conquer our addictions
Dyatlov pass incident lost in our own winters"

I wanna hear more bars about horrific unexplainable historical events like this. Probably one of my favriote bars. Look up the Dyatlob Pass Incidents if you don't know the reference.

The Plague

"The bodies still litter the plain
The water's been tinted with stains
Your God is indifferent to pain
You all think you're different
You’re not all that different
All of us fit in a grave"

Horrorcore vibes and this shit dropped a month after the world shut down due to COVID.

Pet Sematary

Dark ass banger. Named after the Stephen King book also samples Richard Ramirez The Night stalker towards the end.

Alieen Wuornos

A song about the serial killer by the same name. She was a sex worker who murdered several of her male clients between 1989 and 1990.

BloodBorne

Another banger. Sadistik loves the Dark Souls games and this is another horror inspired banger.

Night of the Creeps

Song that was released for last Halloween. Horrorcore trap banger. References Videodrome, Tales from the Crept, and other horror movies.

27 Club

Not necessarily horrorcore but has some dope lyrics that are horror related. The bars about the Burzum/black metal church burnings and Varg Vikernes during the trial are my fav.

"burn em down like a church from Burzum now
Murder trial style,smile when the verdicts out versatile
I wanna see your blood to put some iron in it
Bottom feeding scum can meet the higher quicker
27 Club ain’t shit if I ain’t in it"

Firing Squad

Ceschi isn't a horrorcore rapper at all but the way Sadistik and him talk about removing thier own intestines and body parts in this song fit the playlist pretty well.

Sadistik: "All I ever wanted was to cut open my stomach
Let the butterflies go back home, that's all I know"

Ceschi: "Distance makes the heart grow fonder, so I pulled mine outta my chest
Hurled off to the deepest, darkest black yonder into a hornets nest
Where they picked apart everything I loved and left the remains for the birds
Broken, aimless, but we’re famous, painted, God never could maintain his work"
"All I ever wanted was to cut open my stomach
And strangle my enemies with the intestines that I pull from it"

[fatphrank]

Thanks for posting this, bro. I will definitely be revisiting your notes later when I can actually listen to the tracks. Can't wait to check his stuff out.

[ComicVomit]

So it was just announcements that Sadistik is headlining Gorefest. I gotta get to Denver now

[fatphrank]

So it was just announcements that Sadistik is headlining Gorefest. I gotta get to Denver now

Damn, that's pretty sick. And this dude doesn't consider himself horrorcore...? haha

[ComicVomit]

So it was just announcements that Sadistik is headlining Gorefest. I gotta get to Denver now

Damn, that's pretty sick. And this dude doesn't consider himself horrorcore...? haha

It's not a label I think he would put on his own music (at least most of the time) but I also think its not something he's necessarily shying away from either (especially since hes headlining Gorefest lol). His second album Flowers for My Father has a Cage feature on it but most of his music back then had a different vibe than it does now.

https://youtu.be/zpZ5OHt38b4

The best comparison I can make is to Cage, Rhyme Asylum, or maybe Tech Nine to a lesser extent. They walk the line between horrorcore and alternative, indy, or abstract hip hop, having allot of dope lyrics and flows that tend to be darker in theme than average hip hop but don't necessarily write songs about murder, rape, or being a serial killer.

I think Sadistik is actually a good artist to listen if we ever want to have a discussion about the definition of horrorcore itself. He's definitely transgressive and pushes the boundaries of hip hop and incorporate similar themes as horrorcore. I guess he might actually fall under a subgenre of horrorcore if we made one up to fit ppl like him, Cage, and the more recent stuff by Jakprogresso.

Sorry I wrote a long ass reply to what was basically a joke. Sadistik is probably my favriote artist and def my fav lyricist. I put him on the same level as guys like Aseop Rock and MF DOOM.

[fatphrank]

It's not a label I think he would put on his own music (at least most of the time) but I also think its not something he's necessarily shying away from either (especially since hes headlining Gorefest lol). His second album Flowers for My Father has a Cage feature on it but most of his music back then had a different vibe than it does now.

https://youtu.be/zpZ5OHt38b4

The best comparison I can make is to Cage, Rhyme Asylum, or maybe Tech Nine to a lesser extent. They walk the line between horrorcore and alternative, indy, or abstract hip hop, having allot of dope lyrics and flows that tend to be darker in theme than average hip hop but don't necessarily write songs about murder, rape, or being a serial killer.

I think Sadistik is actually a good artist to listen if we ever want to have a discussion about the definition of horrorcore itself. He's definitely transgressive and pushes the boundaries of hip hop and incorporate similar themes as horrorcore. I guess he might actually fall under a subgenre of horrorcore if we made one up to fit ppl like him, Cage, and the more recent stuff by Jakprogresso.

Sorry I wrote a long ass reply to what was basically a joke. Sadistik is probably my favriote artist and def my fav lyricist. I put him on the same level as guys like Aseop Rock and MF DOOM.

All good man. Make all the long replies you want! No one else seems to talk on these boards except me and you! I appreciate your insight into him since I don't know much about him myself.