From 2009 til about a week ago, I had pretty much given up on Alchemist‘s chances of ever returning to his vintage form circa 2000-2006. Around the time he packed a ton of big names (Eminem, Jadakiss, Juvenile and the like) onto an exceedingly mediocre album in the guise of Chemical Warfare, he just seemed tired from churning out a seemingly endless string of b-grade beats that sounded like bad parodies of the kind of instrumentals he used to make. And this is coming from someone who used to sweat Alchemist heavy, shoving homemade mixtapes in all my friend’s faces and making them listen to the production he was doing for people like Lake, Mobb Deep, Saigon and Nas. 

 

 

Thankfully, some time around a week ago, he seems to have worked things out. The second Gangrene album, which follows the group’s initial release Gutter Water in 2010, features two passable rappers in Alchemist and Oh No, but they are both producers first, and the pair’s ability to create cohesively grimy and raw hip-hop album is what makes Vodka & Ayahuaska such a dope record. The album’s title and artwork should be the tip-off that this album is going to be steeped in psychedelic influences; from the samples to the short interludes in between songs, everything has a paranoid vibe, something like the soundtrack to Martin Sheen destroying his hotel room in Apocalypse Now.

Even though Alchemist only produces 5 tracks (compared to 9 from Oh No), he leaves his mark on this album. “Drink It Up” is easily the best thing he’s put out in recent memory, but the haunted house synths on “Livers for Sale” are just as good. It could be that he works better when he has an overal theme to run with, as he did on Prodigy’s awesome Return of the Mac album. He indulges in the thick psychedlic vibe of Vodka & Ayahuasca by tweaking fuzzy Middle Eastern guitars (“Dark Shades”) and off-beat percussion. Maybe the biggest surprise is that his lyrics and flow, which can be super corny at the best of times, are actually decent this time around.

On the other hand, Oh No has already been dope for years, so his excellent contributions to the album (both as producer and rapper) come as less of a surprise. Beats like “Gladiator Music,” with an unexpected appearance from Kool G Rap, “Flame Throwers” and “The Groove” are highlights, stuck deep in the hallucinogenic haze the album cultivates over the 14 tracks. Aside from a few weak hooks and the inconsistent quality of the rhymes and lyrics, this album gets as close to great as one might have hoped for. Hopefully it’s a sign that Alchemist is done with three-year sabbaticals.