Sy ShacklefordDelving into dark corners has been a thematic staple for Cody Foster, the Seattle rhymesayer known as Sadistik. He’s built a career from his own vulnerability for over fifteen years, displaying his introspection as layered, intricate rhymes. Clearly, he has a surplus of haunting experiences to draw from as he’s released two full-length LPs for 2024: “Oblivion Theater” with producer Maulskull and now “At Night the Silence Eats Me”. It should be noted that Sadistik is not afraid to challenge himself lyrically, often rhyming over unconventional hip-hop beats. Unlike “Oblivion Theater” and 2022’s “BMBWTWIC”, his latest album enlists a different producer per track.
With a deathly painting for the cover and the phrasing of the album title, the atmosphere of “At Night the Silence Eats Me” feels like a diary showcase, with the different page entries being a different mood on each song. Take the Young Guid-produced “Eyes Wide Shut”, which displays a trap-esque production for Sadistik to conduct his rapid-fire train of thought filled with surreal lyrics. His connection to CunninLynguists is further strengthened on “Drifting”, featuring Deacon the Villain. With Iam1am behind the boards, there’s a noticeable ethereal quality to the track. Mind you, these aren’t even the opening tracks. The album’s first single/intro, “Astral Plain”, has an unexpected sound in that it isn’t dark or morbid, nor is its music video. Shot in various locations in Hong Kong, Sadistik shows his rhymed mastery of the English language while also showing a tranquility uncommon in his work:
Mors helms the second single “60”, the video for which was also spliced together from footage of Sad’s Hong Kong trip. Musically, it has murky synths that allow for Sadistik to show off his prowess at emceeing. His breath control, wordplay, and penchant for bars such as “Act fly on the web get spun up by Charlotte’s / Today’s sunset matched the blood on the carpets” are all wrapped up in one single 60-bar verse. On “Figure With Meat”, producer DYINGALLURE provides one of the strongest beats so far, with handclap snares, hi-hats, and a Latin choir at the end to bring Sadistik’s religious imagery some context. Oson’s “King of Kings” is one of my favorite tracks. The production has an organic sound and, though it contains just one verse, it melds well with Sadistik’s style:
Evo Frost’s “Ghost Dance” is disjointed lyrically, but perhaps that’s the point as it seems rapped from the point-of-view of one who’s experienced over-extended solitude. The melancholic “I Saw The Reaper” coincides with the album cover’s imagery and notafuckinghero merges depressing guitar strings with distorted rap vocals. “You’re All Alone” has the most unusual production on the album. Though produced by Eery Skies, it sounds like a track left on the cutting room floor of “Bring Me Back When the World Is Cured”, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as Sadistik raps three verses over a noir-like sampled soundscape.
For the last quarter of the album, “La Sagrada” begins with its cinematic strings courtesy of the Sorrow Bringer. In “Liminal Spaces”, Sadistik both sings and raps elegiac lyrics over AG Flux’s equally doleful beat. Televangel creates a shifting sonic chaos on The Rituals of Mine-assisted “Fata Morgana” to close out the album. Between both of Sadistik’s 2024 releases, “At Night the Silence Eats Me” is the better album. It has a certain accessibility that “Oblivion Theater” just doesn’t and greater reflects the musical challenge that Sadistik imposes on both himself and hip-hop listeners.