Sematary - Bloody Angel Review

Written by: Nolan Durand

Edited by: Lanee Fridley

Pre-mixtape release:

On January 5th 2024, Sematary made a post to Twitter captioned “#BLOODYANGEL #2K24 #MIXTAPE”. This was the announcement for his new mixtape “BLOODY ANGEL”. This mixtape was coming after his EP “King of the Graveyard”, and replaced “King of the Graveyard 2” as the new mixtape for 2024. 

Sematary would then release his highly anticipated song “WENDIGO” a few weeks later on January 20th. Taking inspiration from post-punk and infusing it with signature horrorcore and witch house sound, it easily became a fan favorite for many. It also gave hope to many fans that “BLOODY ANGELS” will be good. His previous EP “King of the Graveyard”  was mostly horrorcore infused trap, and Chicago drill songs. It did not change his style as many were hoping as he normally does between albums, but instead stuck with the sound from “Butcher House”. This has made many fans think of the EP as boring, and was a worse version of the sound he was already doing.

Sematary announced a tour to go along with the mixtape on January 23rd. Starting on April 3rd and going through June 25th, Sematary would go on tour throughout the US and Europe with fellow Haunted Mound members Hackle, Turnabout, Gonerville, and Oscar18. This made the excitement for the mixtape amongst fans grow even more.

On February 23rd, Sematary dropped another single for the mixtape “HEADLIGHTS”  and gave an official release date, March 29th. “HEADLIGHTS” did not keep the post-punk style from “WENDIGO”, and instead went for a Witch House, Plugg, and Trap. The sound reminded some fans of his album “Hundred Acre Woods” but mixed with his newer sound from “Butcher House”. Sematary would also drop the cover for “BLOODY ANGEL” roughly a week later on March 3rd.

Overall the rollout was shaping up to be a normal one. He released two singles, announced a tour, posted the album cover, and even teased some merch to get fans excited for the new mixtape. This was until March 11th, when Turnabout and Gonerville announced that they would be leaving Haunted Mound. This came as a surprise to many because earlier in the month they released their project “Obscura Noctis Mane”. It was loved by fans and they showed no signs of leaving Haunted Mound. With their departure it made many fans question if they would still have features and production on “BLOODY ANGEL”. With their departure they also announced they will not be on the Haunted Mound Angels Tour. Many people wanted to see Goners DJ set and see Turnabout’s new music live. Turnabout has been regarded as the best member live, so with him leaving the tour made fans less hyped for this tour.

A few days after Turnabout and Goner announced their departure, Sematary would post a new tour lineup. Replacing Turnabout and Goner as the DJ were Buckshot and Anvil. With the announcement, Sematary would also announce he would be performing his longest set ever and play some songs off the “Warboy” remake he has been working on. He also said Buckshot would play some unreleased songs on tour. This announcement made many fans happy and helped regain hype for the tour.

To finish out the rollout Sematary would finally post the tracklist for the mixtape. This tracklist would feature many fan favorite snippets like “Smoke Machine”, “Mordor” and “Get Money N Die”. The tracklist also revealed features from artists Wicca Phase and Lil Flash which many fans were excited to hear. While the mixtape may have not had any Turnabout features or more Goner production, the fans were still excited after seeing the tracklist. With only a little over a week til the release, anticipation for the mixtape was growing and people were ready to hear what it would sound like.

Mixtape Review:

At 12 am on March 29th “Bloody Angels” officially dropped on streaming platforms. The overall perception of the mixtape was positive and many fans have stated this as their favorite album since “Rainbow Bridge 3”. The mixtape has been seen as better and more coherent than the “King of the Graveyard” EP with many fans now looking forward to what Sematary will do in the future. 

My thoughts on the mixtape have mostly been positive but there are some flaws. In the following section I will go through each track and give my thoughts on them. The final thoughts section will give a more concise review to what I feel. 

• Bloody Angel:

• The intro and title track of the mixtape

• An electronic trap beat with glo elements in it that leads into a bass heavy finale with a electronic guitar implemented in

• This track serves as a good intro because it shows what people should expect from this mixtape; Electronic trap beats, repetitive lyrics about drugs, violence, and haunted mound that drags on for a little too long but has a rewarding finale

• This track is good, but I believe it would have been better if they made a minute shorter so the finale comes sooner

• Headlights:

• The second lead single for the mixtape

• An electronic trap song that focuses on the synths, with an electric guitar finale

• This song reminds me of something from his album “Hundred Acre Wrist” with the goofy lyrics and synth heavy production

• One of my favorite tracks off the mixtape because of how fun it is, and when it released as a single it had me really hyped for this mixtape

• Wendigo:

• The first lead single for the mixtape

• A post-punk song with horrorcore elements 

• This is one of the best lead singles he could have chosen for the mixtape. After the mediocre reception of “King of the Graveyard" this showed people that he could switch from the Chicago drill style he was doing for over a year. It got me and a lot of other fans excited to hear what was to come

• Smoke Machine:

• This was a fan favorite snippet that was previewed almost a year ago

• A chicago drill style song with trap metal elements 

• A repetitive song about smoking cigs, but could easily get anyone hyped with the beat

• One of the better songs off the mixtape with the production and Sematary’s delivery

• Mordor:

• Chicago drill/glo style song with Sematary’s usual horrorcore elements.

• Kinda the same style as the last song but this time it’s about riding around through Mordor

• I prefer smoke machine over this but it still gets me hyped

• Parking Lot Scarecrow:

• Electronic trap song with some plugg elements

• A repetitive song with a fun beat (That uses the Zaytoven “ahh” sound)

• It’s mainly Sematary repeating “I’m a Parking Lot Scarecrow” but the flow and the beat helps this song get stuck in my head

• This is another one of my favorites off the album

• Hockey Mask 2:

• Electronic trap song with an electric guitar in the back

• Has a feature from Haunted Mound artist Hackle. His verse is the highlight of the song, and he drops a bar about getting head

• Overall a good song with great feature from Hackle

• Sacrifyce:

• Oscar18 has an electric guitar performance throughout the whole song which is accompanied by a trap beat

• A catchy “love” song about Sematary wanting his girl to be his sacrifice

• The electric guitar performance with Sematary screaming about sacrifices make this one of the better songs so far. The trap beat also pairs well with Oscar’s performance

• Buried My Heart (Interlude):

• An instrumental interlude coming right after the halfway point of the mixtape.

• A witch house beat with an electric guitar performance and eerie synths throughout setting a good tone for the mixtape

• This interlude got me more excited for what was to come

• Benadryl Angyl:

• This beat is almost the same as the one from “Headlights” but with some differences in the guitar and synths 

• I think this song is trash because of the reuse of the “Headlights” beat. Headlights is better and this just felt lazy even if the beat is slightly different

• This isn’t the first time where he has used almost the same beat as before on an album. On “Butcher House” the tracks “Babayaga” and “Hallowed be my Wrist” use the same beat. At least with that case “Hallowed be my Wrist” featured Hackle Turnabout and Black Kray

• Hearse Trucks:

• A Chicago Drill style song with heavy bass

• This is a song I find to be ok. Production and lyrics were fine but this doesn’t stand out to me.

• Barrow Wights:

• Chicago Drill song with an electric guitar sound.

• Features Goth Boy Clique member Wicca Phase, who performs a crazy verse

• This does feel boring to me by the end though, this is another case where the song would have been better if it was shorter

• Black Wings My Team:

• A Trap beat that is Chopped and Screwed.

• Features Glo Gang artist Lil Flash

• At this point in the mixtape the style was getting boring, and even though Lil Flash made an enjoyable feature the song felt too repetitive and boring just to listen to his feature

• Demon In Pain:

• Electronic Trap song and is the final song produced by Gonerville

• I found this one enjoyable compared to the last few and will definitely come back to it

• Goner’s final beat went hard, and even though this song still follows the trend of Sematary having repetitive lyrics I enjoyed it for what it was. I had more fun with this song then the last few which were hard to listen to

• Dead Trees:

• An electronic witch house song

• Has a feature from Haunted Mound artist Buckshot, marking his return to music after almost a year of absence

• This song is a fun listen. After breaking the trap cycle it feels like a breath of fresh air. Sematary has some fun lyrics just naming horror movie characters and has a catchy chorus

• Buck’s verse is a great return for him. It makes me excited to see what he will do next and he fits perfect on this beat

• Get Money ’N Die:

• The final song on the mixtape, an electronic trap song with a bagpipe sample throughout

• The song was previewed back in July 2023 and has been highly anticipated since

• This is my favorite song off the mixtape, I waited forever for this to come out and I love it even more now that it is released

• The bagpipe sample with the lyrics make this such a great song

• While the lyrics are mostly “Get Money and Die” the delivery makes it enjoyable to listen to

• A great closer to the mixtape after the later half felt underwhelming 

Final Thoughts:

This mixtape is a fun listen but has some flaws near the end. It starts out strong with almost every track being enjoyable but once it hits “Benadryl Angel” the tracks feel like a chore to listen to. It’s not until “Demon In Pain” that I found them to be good again. The mixtape does finish strong with “Dead Trees” and “Get Money ‘N Die” being great listens. If some tracks were cut short or even cut from the mixtape entirely I think it would help this mixtape feel less repetitive by the end tracks. 

Overall I give this mixtape a 7/10. It is a fun listen and has some really good tracks, but it does feel boring and repetitive at points. This isn’t my favorite Sematary album, but following “King of the Graveyard” this is a step in the right direction and helps make the trap and Chicago drill style he has been doing feel different at times. I would also recommend this mixtape as a good start for people if they are trying to get into Sematary. Sematary will most likely not go back to his older style and it is more accessible then something like “Rainbow Bridge 3” to the average listener.