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Blade of the Ronin
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Blade of the Ronin Image
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 13 Ratings

  • Summary: The follow-up to Vast Aire and Vordul Mega's debut release Cold Vein comes 14 years later with an album produced by Bill Cosmiq.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Exclaim
    Mar 5, 2015
    80
    While he seems outshone by his flashier co-stars on much of Ronin at first, repeat listens find his well stoked lines smouldering for far longer than you'd think.
  2. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Mar 19, 2015
    80
    Blade of the Ronin’s greatest success lies not in avoiding the commonplace, but rather in their commitment to pre-SDCC juvenilia, as well as to a more holistic sense of sincerity.
  3. Q Magazine
    Apr 13, 2015
    80
    They still sound confident and all-conquering. [May 2015, p.103]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. HipHopDX
    Mar 9, 2015
    70
    Blade of the Ronin is a dense collection of music. Fans of lyricism will appreciate the wordplay, as well as the contributions from artists like Elzhi and DOOM, among many others.
  5. Pretty Much Amazing
    Mar 5, 2015
    67
    Blade Of The Ronin is a well-crafted, entertaining, and moderately inspired follow-up that doesn’t do justice to the fourteen-year wait, but it reimagines Can Ox as competent storytellers rather than progressive geniuses.
  6. The Guardian
    Mar 19, 2015
    60
    While the sound has lost its edge, the MCs--Vast Aire in particular--still possess great verbal imagination.
  7. The Wire
    Jun 5, 2015
    60
    They're indubitably human this time around. [Jun 2015, p.54]
    All this publication's reviews

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. BIGMAN22
    Apr 26, 2016
    6
    as a fan of cannibal ox. this isnt like the cold vein in terms of El-P's stellar lo fi production. the production mostly being handled by anas a fan of cannibal ox. this isnt like the cold vein in terms of El-P's stellar lo fi production. the production mostly being handled by an unknown producer. his attempts on a few tracks to produce them are eh. the black milk produced track is marvelous. may not be as good their debut but has a few listenable tracks.… Expand
  2. jrodfilms
    Mar 6, 2015
    5
    i can agree with some of the reviews to the left that while this is an ok sometimes good listen, you are better off listening to the firsti can agree with some of the reviews to the left that while this is an ok sometimes good listen, you are better off listening to the first album, 'the cold vein.'… Expand
  4. nirvanafreak
    Aug 12, 2015
    0
    Review from March:It didn't seem too bad at first but after a couple of listens it got boring and became a disappointing album from a duoReview from March:It didn't seem too bad at first but after a couple of listens it got boring and became a disappointing album from a duo which released one of the greatest underground hip hop albums 14 years before. It has cool artwork but that isn't enough to make me listen to it ever again. 2/10

    Review in August:This albums makes my brain vomit. If i had to choose between watching Zoella or listening to this again i'd choose Zoella, and i really hate Zoella. Seriously though this is terrible definitely worst release of the year for me (worse than the new Public Enemy album, worse than the Megan trainor album, worse than troy aves album, worse than everything ugh **** my life) 0/10    … Expand

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