The first album by long-running Philadelphia hip-hop collective
Jedi Mind Tricks since 2008's
A History of Violence is also their first outing without production by founding member Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. Stoupe's production helped mold the group's sound, and offered a gruff, hard-edged background for rage-spewing rhymes that approached horror movie levels of violence from MCs
Vinnie Paz and off-and-on member
Jus Allah.
Violence Begets Violence is no less intense without Stoupe's input, with an overwhelming amount of gory rhymes and enormous buzzsaw beats on standout tracks like "When Crows Descend Upon You" and "F**k Ya Life." The scratchy prog rock sample that "Target Practice" is built around makes the song and adds fire to
Paz's fervent delivery. ~ Fred Thomas