1. "Intro"
2. "Citrin"
Produced by Black Marvel and Jordan River Banks
Additional vocals by Thoughtsarizen
3. "Gods of E.din"
Produced by Ciph Barker
4. "Golden Pineapple of the Sun"
Produced by Jordan River Banks
Co-Produced by Kombo
Additional vocals by Netza Meta
5. "Starship Planet (Shi'ur Qomah)"
Produced by Ciph Barker
6. "Creation of a Super God"
Produced by Black Marvel
7. "The Vast Bottomless Sleep (Cosmos)"
Produced by Jordan River Banks
8. "PWOWR Glove"
Produced by Ciph Barker
9. "L.Gigi (People of the Land of Nod)"
Produced by Jordan River Banks and Kombo for Ma'at
Tabla: Sandip Bhattacharya
10. "Earth to Walter Reed, Come In Please"
Produced by Jordan River Banks
11. "Mul.Apin Tablets"
Produced by Ciph Barker
12. "Centrality of Our Mythic Imagination"
Produced by Jordan River Banks
Additional vocals by Crystal Nelson
13. "Rogue Godz"
Produced by Black Marvel
14. "Color of Ideas"
Produced by Jordan River Banks
Additional Vocals by Crystal Nelson
15. "Quantum Spirit of Creation"
Produced by Jordan River Banks
16. "Alien Stars"
Produced by Ciph Barker
17. "I Destroyed You In Front Of Your Leaders"
Produced by Black Marvel
18. "Body of Light"
Produced by Jordan River Banks
19. "Gallery of the Gods"
Produced by Black Marvel
20. "Walt's Day Out" (Bonus Track)
Produced by Jordan River Banks
Co-Produced by Def Buurmen, Kombo & Basrabas
Violin: Myrthe van de Weetering



01.The Arrival : One Hundred Milleniums Coming
Beyond this and into infinity is man's last frontier
Over 2 billion light years of solar systems
Reaching from the great clouds of Magellan
To the galaxies of Andromeda and Triangellum
Through the eons of time man has searched the heavens
Peering incessantly into the vast millions of miles of universe
Questioning every star, every planet
Man's search for the answer never stops
Moves closer and closer to his final destiny, exploration of the heavens
And so his probes take him deep into space
Past the planets of Mars and Jupiter, Saturn and countless others
Relentlessly he will seek new worlds to land on
And always he will wonder if the next one will be like the one before.

The album kicks off with snippets from the introductory narration to Leonard Katzman's 1965 made for TV movie 'Space Monster', setting up the space theme nicely right off the bat.




02. Citrine [Black Marvel and Jordan River Banks] 3.5/5

Priest welcomes the audience at the start of Citrine, giving them a glimpse of what is to follow.

Gentlemen you're about to witness
Lyrics by a chemist
Witness biophysics
Written like hieroglyphs
Predictions like bible scriptures
Traditions like tribal lizards
So step right up, see it all if you're quick enough
To get in line for the most prolific rhyme

As you can already tell just by reading Priest's first lines from Citrine, throughout the album Priest will discuss theexploration of space, the history of the universe and how the origin of mankind fits into that - more specifically various incarnations of God, Adam and Eve, the lizard people, the gods of ancient Sumer, Egypt and the like. References to his prowess as an MC and to modern technology, such as bar codes, computers and the internet are sprinkled throughout Planet Of The Gods. All of this makes for a thematically unified album. There are no street tales on this project.

Priest's lyrics are enhanced with a few great dialogue snippets from obscure sources and all around excellent production by Godz Wrath, whose beats never seem to overpower the MC's musings. Jordan River Banks (co)produces 10 out of 19 tracks, including the somewhat more light hearted bonus track Walt's Day Out. Ciph Barker and Black Marvel both clock in 5 tracks. Since these producers are a super trio of sorts who collaborate regularly it is no surprise their beats form an intricate landscape where no beat seems out of place.

Priest's first track can be considered an opening statement of sorts so the barren soundscape (little more than a drum track with a few keyboard flourishes here and there) makes perfect sense. While he starts out discussing ancient rulers and how their tombs were desecrated he then proceeds with imagery of a crazy space battle (there is talk of rocket dogs and torpedo sharks) to describe how he will annihilate enemies from the booth. Thoughtsarizen's hook is short and barely registers. Hooks are far and between on the album and really with such deep verses there is hardly any need for them.


Citrine

03. Gods of E.din [Ciph Barker] 4/5

Ciph Barker's productions on Planet Of The Gods are nothing short of brilliant. His beats fit Priest's lyrics like a glove. Here he concocts a beautiful beat that uses a cello, violins and keys to good effect. This song sums up the album perfectly with Priest discussing the creation of our civilization setting off the track impressively with these lines.

He first appeared with workers and engineers
Through the earth's hemisphere
And the ozone layer
With angelic space gear
The sky God
That travels in celestial pods of bright stars
The father called his children
The children came down, began building
A technology brilliant

Priest then vividly depicts a war between various factions of the Elohim. The hook on this track is very effective and is done by Priest himself. In it he asks us ...

Did man come from earth
Or somewhere in the universe
Who was here first?


04. Golden Pineapples Of The Sun [Jordan River Banks, co-produced by Kombo] 4.5/5

Since there is no unifying theme to this track it comes off as stream of consciousness. Priest starts off by discussing thestate of hiphop, then quickly moves onto space invaders reprogramming mankind and references a host of other conspiracy theories such as the nazis retreating to the moon (as depicted in the movie Iron Sky in 2012), the CIA overthrowing dictators, mankind being the descendants of inhabitants of a prison planet etc. Here's a gem from the second verse ...

Help gather the unwanted beings
From all the kings in his control
Transport them to this globe
Beings stacked around the base of volcanoes
While preachers and drug users claim to see the face of angels
Just stuck looking up for months in the same clothes
Memory editing from medicines
Virtue worlds from the herion
Hold on we just got here let us settle in
Inside the moon is a night club
With trillion watt light bulbs
A green woman took us in and showed us nice drugs

The third verse seems more focused on betrayal, mentioning famous historical and religious examples.

05. Starship Planet (Shi'ur Qomah) [Ciph Barker] 4/5

For those wondering about the title, the Shi'ur Qomah is a Midrashic text that is part of early Jewish mysticism. It purports to record the secret names and precise measurements of God's corporeal limbs and parts.

I have found the earth to be the perfect shape of a cube
Standing in the centre of the universe
With all of the heavenly bodies scattered around and around

This dialogue snippet is the intriguing intro to a song that heavily references the Kaballah, the more mystical perspective on Judaism.

Babylonian Talmudic setting
Speaking the Shekhinah in God's wedding
The Messiah has a palace in the highest heavens
In a celestial temple mirrors the image of an earthly presence
Sit in mystic Hasidic circles
With God's virtue


The Shekhinah glory enters the tabernacle. (The Shekhinah is God's presence.)

Interestingly the track also gives a nod to Priest's new alias (King) Zohar with the line Rabbi Ben holds a zohar. The zohar is a mystic comment on the Torah.

The second verse leaves Judaism behind for a while and discusses Leonard William King's excavations and vampire Indians connecting with snake queens on Sirius no less.

This track is very well written (the end mirrors the beginning in a smart way, just one example) but hard to understand on the first few listens. There are so many references I guess it's better to just let the lyrics wash over you and give them time to sink in. Ciph Barker's beat gives Priest's bars room to breathe.


06. Creation Of A Super God [Black Marvel] 5/5

Black Marvel's first solo production is more uptempo than the earlier tracks due to the horns which inject the track with a certain urgency. Priest's lyrics are very focused in the first verse. With great penmanship he describes how a god could create himself.

First the brain created itself
Inside of a mind
Around the island of thoughts
In a world before time
Then a fiction process starts
By telling itself it had a heart

Wow. And those are just the opening lines.


07. The Vast Bottomless Sleep (Cosmos) [Jordan River Banks] 5/5

The shortest song on the album starts off with another dope dialogue snippet which leads into a majestic beat with a great vocal sample (a woman singing). Priest conjures up some fascinating imagines here but they don't seem to be connected to each other.

Scientists captured beautiful women, started the mutating
Till they never stopped ageing
But I'm such a prolific writer
What happens if the lady is a martial arts fighter
And mutated to half a tiger and half fire

A nice little gem, this track. The beat really did it for me on this one.


08. PWOWR Glove [Ciph Barker] 5/5

A time traveller mistakenly kills the older version of himself
A baby grabs a Mac 10 off the shelf
Fighter planes that's coming from the four arms of a giant flying stealth

Interesting how the first three bars seem to convey the same idea, another example of creative writing. It's also noteworthy that Priest references the Wu on multiple occasions throughout the song. It comes as no surprise Priest name drops Malaki Z York (Dwight York), the incarcerated leader of the Nuwaubian Nation.

The song is brimming with ill lines, here's just one ...

The astral plane it falls asleep, it dreams of black holes

Ciph Barker's backdrop is another winner with a great vocal sample and some keys.


09. L.Gigi (People Of The Land Of Nod) [Jordan River Banks and Kombo] 5/5

Banks and Kombo (helped by tabla player Sandip Bhattacharya) provide a Middle Eastern soundscape that Priest seems to feel very comfortable over.


tablas

Genesis 4:16 in the Hebrew Bible reads 'And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.'

Priest has Cain marry an inhabitant of Nod. Their children are to conquer earth and rule as gods.

The eastern sounds complement the topic really well.


10. "Earth To Walter Reed, Come In Please" [Jordan River Banks] 5/5

One of the rare uptempo tracks on the album. The drums and sinister synths grab you right away. Priest describes thereconaissance of an exotic planet that might or might not be Earth.

Just saw a plant called
The Capsella Pyrola Bogaus Flora Pastoris
Inside an interdimensional forest
That's surrounded by diamond orbits

I also like this bit quite a lot ...

What's the weight of the sky?
The actual length and size?
All I know is I can't fit in when I rhyme
I'm about this high

There's some (unintentionial?) comedic effect in that last bar that makes the lines even better.


11. Mul.Apin Tablets [Ciph Barker] 5/5

The Mul.Apin referenced in the song title is a Babylonian compendium on astronomy and astrology. The first verse is like a track on its own with great story telling (the discovery and subsequent destruction of Atlantis with its two survivors creating our civilization).

The second verse dives into contemporary writers and (controversial) scholars Rudolph Windsor and Bobby Hemmitt and their theories on the origin of black people. Some interesting references to Alexander The Great too.

The third verse includes the only bit of social commentary on this record with these lyrics ...

We the same niggas with different options
See I still pick cotton
But only when I'm at Macy's shopping
And I might pick up some silk too
But that's only for my boo
'Cause she says "I'm so into you"

The great thing here is these seemingly unrelated verses go together really well, thanks in part to another fantastic Ciph Barker beat.


11. Centrality Of Our Mythic Imagination [Jordan River Banks] 3.5/5

Priest spits two short verses and then lets the beautiful beat play out for a while. This song suffers a bit from the fact it reiterates a lot of the ideas and images put forward on earlier songs (a ruler, the landing of an extraterrestrial, Sumerians, the Kaballah). Fortunately, the beat is well worth listening to. Crystal Nelson provides some distorted lyrics that work well with the beat too.

The song is followed by a great movie dialogue snippet that illustrates the typical roles in space operas humorously.


12. Rogue Godz [Black Marvel] 5/5

Priest's effortless flow shines on Rogue Godz. He adapts his pace to the beat perfectly. There's some more fantastic imagery here as well. Peep the opening lines.

Pirate dragons sailing through the sea of monsters
Conquer the island of the scientist
Iron ship flying disk
Landed on the shores of the Moors
Men of war swinging swords
Battle axe pharaoh hats
Shadows trap the light of the day
As we pray


14. Color Of Ideas [Jordan River Banks] 5/5

You are all familiar with this song, no need to go into it again. All I can say is it fits in perfectly with the rest of the album so it was a good move to include this single in the end.


15. Quantum Spirit Of Creation [Jordan River Banks] 3.5/5

Just like L.Gigi this song has Eastern instrumentation. This is one of the longest songs on the album and discusses his rhyming skills and the reptilians amongst other things.


16. Alien Stars [Ciph Barker] 5/5

This song was made available earlier this month, I'm sure you've all heard it by now. Excellent track.


17. I Destroyed You In Front Of Your Leaders [Black Marvel] 5/5

Great title that is partly used in the chorus which solely consists of the line I destroyed you on an island called Berserk. Black Marvel's beat is quite uptempo, once again in part due to the horn section. It certainly is one of the livelier tracks. The space topic is in full effect here as he goes in on lesser MCs. Fantastic.

You're an android
Something that my hands destroy
The fans build you I'm gonna push you into an astroid
Then hold till you turn into the black noise
The super gods have no time for you rap boys


18. Body Of Light [Jordan River Banks] 5/5

This was the first single released way back. Still a banger, Jordan River Banks is really good with these Eastern type beats. This one sounds more ominous than his other Eastern smashes on here.


19. Gallery Of The Gods [Black Marvel] 4.5/5

Another fitting scientific dialogue snippet starts off the track. The longest track on the album has what could be described as a slightly ethereal backdrop. Priest imagines he is welcomed into the gallery of the gods and gets the honorary title 'Lord of lyrics'. The scene is set in a detailed way in the first verse.

I hear nothing
In the halls of Gods
See me walking on floors of stars
Paintings on walls so large
A sea of orbs and stone citrine from the planet of Mars
As history takes my hand
leads me to a victorious land


20. Walt's Day Out (BONUS TRACK) [Jordan River Banks, co-produced by Basrabas] 4/5

You can easily tell this is a bonus track since it barely mentions any of the themes the album itself discusses. This track isn't all that serious. Priest claims he has ADD, he seems to be poking fun at some of his own heavy handed lyrics throughout the song. This track has him listening to a preacher while high, he's kicked out of the church after some erratic behavior. The final verse does see him return to earlier topics on the album. His delivery sounds a bit different on here too. A good way to close the album.


So this turned out to be a long ass review. I don't hesitate in calling this album the best out of the wu camp this year.