Hip-Hop’s live performance matrix is overdue for an extreme system overhaul.

Enters Minneapolis-based Improvisational Jazz Beat Boxer/Hip-Hop Emcee and Artist, Carnage The Executioner: machine, technician, and professor bearing all qualifications needed for task completion. He’s fully powered up with the design of saving the live show programmed into his mainframe. Carnage The Executioner releases the ATTACK OF THE SHOW STEALER, a live performance album with hopes of bringing quality back to live Hip-Hop performances.

Carnage The Executioner sets out to prove his prowess as an unparalleled and naturally-gifted live performer. The release of live albums is rare in itself. And Carnage The Executioner creates something even rarer: a live album with no pre-recorded background music to carry his vocals. He hopes A.O.T.S.S. will back up his claims of being a game-changer. Carnage The Executioner utilizes an entirely live recording from a show inside Denver, Colorado’s Oriental Theater, to exhibit his show-stealing antics. Attendees both familiar and unfamiliar with his material gladly participated in a moving dedication show for the life and death of close friend/collaborator Micheal “Eyedea” Larsen on September 1, 2016. A.O.T.S.S. stands as the only purchasable audio relic representing that memorable night’s happenings.

According to Carnage The Executioner’s supporters, his numerous studio releases have met satisfactory standards. But for years, others/many have seen him perform live – only to exit requesting exactly what they’ve just witnessed as a take-home product. Carnage The Executioner finally shows why his customers are always right!

Attack Of The Show Stealer is 8-songs/12-tracks deep with a running time of over 50 minutes. The album’s flow is similar to Carnage The Executioner’s live show, a rollercoaster ride of colorful layer-by-layer vocal percussion and sound effects (human beatboxing) precisely recorded by virtue of his guitar/bass/effects pedalboard with no shortcuts to carry his meticulously-conjured, exhilarating lyrical content. The explosive end results reached for each song make them all incredibly different from one another. Carnage The Executioner shows off his uncanny aptitude for well-timed, the self-triggered beat stops with sudden returns – controlled live by frenzied footwork on his loop station. Standing on the edge of sound, waiting for beats to return, along with unedited, purposeful rhyme, slow-downs, and play-backs, hold the listener’s complete attention. These characteristics make the songs a bit longer, meatier, and stronger than those same songs produced and programmed for studio recordings.

The art of live Hip-Hop performance hasn’t quite been captured by a solo performer at the level A.O.T.S.S. manages to achieve. Carefully-adjusted audio from ambient room microphones displays the fun had by the sold-out crowd on the night of the show. Dynamic emotion and informative commentary that propels the travel of this vehicle are best suited for straight-through listens. Skipping of tracks is not recommended!

Carnage The Executioner’s presentation shows high-level craft mastery, acute attention to detail, and mind-boggling accuracy. Do these boasts consequently make A.O.T.S.S. a perfect and flawless audio package? Not exactly. The record is bass-heavy, rugged and loud. Voice cracks happen. Sound effects levels are not always adjacent to those of a studio-quality release. Slight timing mistakes due to lots of room echo and fatigue are not altered. But the final product rivals the real-life experience of being in the room with Carnage The Executioner when the songs were performed. Those who have seen him in live action will view that claim as a definitive plus.

Carnage The Executioner’s live energy output, range of vocalization, and off-beat brand of alien-comparable, instrument-less sound production touches listeners, unlike anything you’ll ever endure. Extreme confidence, notable humility, and strong social skills set Carnage The Executioner apart from countless other live performers from all genres. Search elsewhere and find nothing equivalent. Period.

The people have spoken up for a live album release…And The Show Stealer delivers!