The infusion of heavy and hardcore aesthetics into hip-hop has given subversive voice to a new generation unwilling to comform to genre dogmas. While some of these furious young spitters turn to the extreme for inspiration, Scarlxrd comes straight out of the underground, having fronted the UK metal band Myth City. An explosive manifestation of a lived-in amalgam, IMMXRTALISATIXN arrives with unapologetic rage and unholy vengeance in mind. His voice comes through in shards and spikes, its riotous punk energy bursting through “BEASTMXDE” and the dichotomous self-accompaniment “NX LXVE”. And those who question the role of a Scarlxrd in the contemporary rap world need only hear the boom-bap-derived “ASK” to see his direct lineage with golden-age acts like Busta Rhymes and Onyx.