By: Anand Harsh

At the risk of opening up another can of genre worms, it appears we have a contender for "witch-hop" or "goth trap," I'll let you take your pick.

Since the early 2000's, Bay Area producers and gems of the underground hip-hop world Blue Sky Black Death have been cranking out dark, brooding soundscapes both for rappers and to release as chilling instrumentals. Ryan Maguire of BSBD, who now produces and performs at 88 Ultra, recently cracked open his own label, Ultra Glacial, and he's unloaded a monster of an album this month.

Seattle's Jay Battle has been mixing, engineering, and mastering the work of a fair chunk of the Emerald City's underground hip-hop. Finally stepping out as Qreepz, the new album Séance cranks that BSBD darkness up 6 notches. Picture Nosferatu with a Roland.

Haunting tunes like "Get Excited" and "Sleep [1692]" evoke an uneasy well of eerieness, all while blending in contemporary production techniques and fat hooks. Plenty of 808 kicks and thick bass echo through this haunted house of a record. This ain't your party-time trap. Highlights include the two vocal numbers "Wednesday" (ft Yes Alexander) and "Tongues" with Esslu, in addition to the wicked "Cut Factory" and the title track, "Séance," which pairs golden era horror flick synths with chainsaw bass and what I can only assume are cries for help.

This isn't horrorcore or anything remotely silly enough to be lumped in with Odd Future--this is straight up witch-hop. Or goth trap. Whichever--we'll go with both.