Dagger Mouth
| Dagger Mouth | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 12, 2011 | |||
| Studios | ||||
| Genre | Hip-hop | |||
| Length | 52:47 | |||
| Labels | ||||
| Producers |
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| Swollen Members chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Dagger Mouth | ||||
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Dagger Mouth is the sixth studio album by Canadian hip-hop group Swollen Members. It was released on April 12, 2011, by Battle Axe Records and Suburban Noize Records. The album is produced by Rob The Viking, Aspect and DJ Corbett, and features a lone guest appearance from Saigon on the remix of his own song "Bring Me Down" from The Greatest Story Never Told. The album debuted at number 15 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. The album won Rap/Hip-Hop Recording of the Year at the 2012 Western Canadian Music Awards.[1]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| HipHopDX | 4/5[3] |
| RapReviews | 8/10[4] |
| Vancouver Sun | [5] |
Alex Henderson of AllMusic claimed the album contained "plenty of hedonism and hip-hop braggadocio, but there is also an abundance of sobering introspection". He said sometimes "Dagger Mouth becomes dark-humored, but other times, the album is just plain dark" and called the production "funky" and "moody".[2]
Steve Juon of RapReviews expressed "like a classic Wes Craven film the moments of depravity and insanity are measured with a good dose of humor and wit to make them that much more palatable. You can't simply lump a Swollen Members album into the overabused and misused horrorcore cliche though, because there’s lyricism and production values here going well beyond mindless violence."[4]
Francois Marchand of Vancouver Sun stated "Hendriks and Bunting spit rhymes about hitting rock bottom ("The Shining"), anxiety disorders ("Chemical Imbalance") and redemption ("Fresh Air"), blurring the lines between reality, horror movies and comic books over Hooper's nightmarish soundscapes and beats."[5]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Do or Die" | Rob The Viking | 3:26 | |
| 2. | "The Shining" |
|
| 4:06 |
| 3. | "Night Vision" |
| Rob The Viking | 2:29 |
| 4. | "Mr. Impossible" |
| Rob The Viking | 2:32 |
| 5. | "Calming of the Beast" (Instrumental Interlude) | Hooper | Rob The Viking | 0:32 |
| 6. | "Moonshine" |
| Rob The Viking | 3:31 |
| 7. | "House of Sin" |
| Rob The Viking | 2:59 |
| 8. | "Chemical Imbalance" |
| Rob The Viking | 2:06 |
| 9. | "Fire" |
| Rob The Viking | 3:48 |
| 10. | "Fresh Air" |
| Rob The Viking | 3:24 |
| 11. | "War Money" |
|
| 4:16 |
| 12. | "The Predator" |
| Rob The Viking | 2:51 |
| 13. | "Devil" |
| Rob The Viking | 3:29 |
| 14. | "White Python/Black Tarantula/Sound of the Drum" |
| Rob The Viking | 4:41 |
| 15. | "Electric Chair" |
| Rob The Viking | 4:10 |
| 16. | "Bring Me Down (Remix)" (featuring Saigon) |
| DJ Corbett | 4:27 |
| Total length: | 52:47 | |||
Personnel
- Shane "Madchild" Bunting – vocals (tracks: 1–4, 6–16), executive producer, art direction
- Kiley "Prevail" Hendriks – vocals (tracks: 1–4, 6, 7, 9–16)
- Robin "Rob The Viking" Hooper – producer (tracks: 1, 3–10, 12–15), co-producer (tracks: 2, 11), recording, art direction
- Brian "Saigon" Carenard – vocals (track 16)
- Francisco Chacon – scratches (track 3)
- Mike Kumagai – additional piano (track 7), additional drum programming (track 9), guitar (track 12), mixing
- "DJ Itchy Ron" Mejia – scratches (track 15)
- Reece "Aspect" Zazulak – producer (tracks: 2, 11)
- Dustin Corbett – producer (track 16)
- Tom Baker – mastering
- Kevin Zinger – executive producer, management
- Brad "Daddy X" Xavier – executive producer
- Nick The Russian – art direction, design
- Raymond Brown – artwork, additional design
- Mike Cockburn – photography
- Ivory Daniel – management
- Violet Brown – management
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[6] | 15 |
| US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[7] | 18 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[8] | 41 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[9] | 3 |
| US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard)[10] | 179 |
References
- ↑ "Good fortune for Dan Mangan at 2012 Western Canadian Music Awards". Toronto Sun. October 1, 2012.
- 1 2 Henderson, Alex. "Dagger Mouth - Swollen Members | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ↑ Dwyer, Alex (April 13, 2011). "Swollen Members - Dagger Mouth". HipHopDX. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- 1 2 Juon, Steve 'Flash' (April 12, 2011). "Swollen Members :: Dagger Mouth :: Suburban Noize Records". RapReviews. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- 1 2 Marchand, Francois (May 16, 2011). "CD reviews recap: Tyler the Creator, The Weeknd, tUnE-yArDs, Swollen Members". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ↑ "Billboard Canadian Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 30, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ↑ "Top Rap Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 30, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ↑ "Independent Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. April 30, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ↑ "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. April 30, 2011. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Top Current Album Sales". Billboard. April 30, 2011. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
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External links
- Dagger Mouth at Discogs (list of releases)