Sims, Air Credits, & ICETEP Deliver Blistering Collaborative Album "Artería Verité"

Collaborative albums are always pretty exciting, but they don't often dive into something deep. There's never really a huge comment with a collaborative record, but three artists are here to change that. Sims, Air Credit, and ICETEP deliver a blistering collaborative album Artería Verité, bringing dynamic beats and heated verses to make a statement together.

Artería Verité is on the shorter side, but it makes an impact with its time. The most defining part of the record is its beats. The songs come in many different formats, to introspective, atmospheric numbers to more jarring, distorted beats. Opening track 'We Scan Everything' is almost like a warning, it's disjointed beat sounding like a jarring alarm as Sims and Air Credits rap with caution over it. On the opposite side are songs like 'Bitchin Technology' which take things the cool route, with less chaotic beats and more atmosphere to inspire a sense of wonder.

While this record certainly makes an impression, it doesn't quite leave a lasting one. Lots of tracks sort of get lost in this chaotic fray of intensity then immediate calmness, and it's all a bit too much to process at once. For example, the final run of songs the album closes on is almost overwhelming. 'Fourwheels' offers one of the chillest atmospheres the album has, with just a slight bit of displacement in the verses. Immediately after comes 'No Waves' with its thicker, Kanye West type vibes, before the almost threatening conclusion 'All I Do Is This' wraps the album up. It's a chaotic end that seems to attempt to make a statement of disappearing as a result of something bigger but... it all just seems contrived and all too jarring as a run of songs.

Sims, Air Credits, & ICETEP deliver a blistering collaborative album in Artería Verité, but it becomes too disconnected as an experience to really carry any momentum or message. It feels like each song is a piece of something bigger that never quite comes together. It seems like there's a lot of bark but not quite enough bite.

Favorite Track: Raising Helvetica

Least Favorite Track: Fourwheels

Rating: 66 / 100

Stream or buy Artería Verité on Apple Music, and follow our 2018 Playlist on Spotify: