Aesop Rock takes a pass on mainstream

Aesop Rock, "None Shall Pass" (Definitive Jux) 3 stars

Aesop Rock's rhymes, dense with wordplay and seeming lyrical tangents, are for language lovers and juxtaposition aficionados. The typical hip-hop audience, right? Nope, the mainstream still favors lame sex and money fantasies, and Aes Rock would give those folks a headache.

"None Shall Pass," his fifth LP, is as cynical and immediately impenetrable as his 2003's "Bazooka Tooth," although warmer, not as tense or mechanical.

For example, take lip trickery like, "I was a dark, dumb student/No hooky rookie daytrippin' on visions of chickens/That look like R. Crumb drew 'em/They grew him in the royal dirt of Suffolk County's flooring/With the blood of an alcoholic clergyman in his forearms." That's how he starts "Catacomb Kids," a tale of youthful shenanigans that's one of several songs Aesop Rock produces himself here. He shows a preference for rubbery funk, with "Citronella" bolstered by big band horns and "Five Fingers" floating on psychedelic guitars.

Longtime producer Blockhead leaves distinctive fingerprints (pulsing keyboard on the jogging-paced title track, percolating percussion on "Bring Back Pluto"), but despite him and other guests ranging from labelmates El-P and Rob Sonic to indie popster John Darnielle (Mountain Goats), "Pass" is entirely Aes Rock's show. It's smart, acerbic, restless and definitely not recommended for 50 Cent fans.

-- Jeff Pizek

• Aesop Rock performs with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz, The Octopus Project and Blockhead with DJ Signify at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., Chicago. Tickets are $18.50. (312) 559-1212.

Avichi, "The Divine Tragedy" (Numen Malevolum Barathri) ..½

DeKalb, Ill., is not known as a black metal capitol, although the revered cult act Judas Iscariot once hailed from there. Another notable DeKalb-based horde, Avichi, is the product of one-time Nachtmystium guitarist Aamonael, who goes for straightforward grimness and mostly succeeds.

The first half of Avichi's debut is much faster than the second, bringing to mind the early years of Norwegian masters Satyricon, Darkthrone and Enslaved. The best of these tracks, "Messianic Deliverance," begins and ends with a tense, rousing guitar riff which sandwiches cold blasting and dissonant midpaced meandering, all of it oddly catchy without being overtly melodic.

The relatively languid and sedate instrumental "Prayer to Release" announces the slower, moodier second half of "Tragedy." Aamonael's mournful riffing prods the dirge "Aeonic Disintegration" into an ever-darker cavern, while session drummer Xaphar (ex-Avidost, also ex-Nachtmystium) contributes a tribal roll to "Taedium Vitae" that makes the tune feel more like the sludgecore of Isis or Neurosis than black metal.

The disc's biggest flaw is its intro and outro tracks, which sound like digitally manipulated gong sounds. Two minutes of this at the beginning are ominous and builds suitable tension, but five minutes at the end dampen the final song's impact and are, frankly, irritating. If Avichi can ditch such amateur avant-garde impulses and integrate its divergent but equally dismal personalities, this outfit could be deadly.

-- Jeff Pizek