Everliven Sound: Freedom II is the follow up album to 2008's Freedom, from emcee/producer Cymarshall Law
and UK emcee Skit Slam

Cymarshall law is an emcee who has always specialized in conscious and political hip hop and this is no different.
with the theme being Freedom.
Some song topics deal with freedom of the mind others such as Days of Faster and Walk Away are more about a freedom from the routines of our lives. Its a concept which works well throughout the album even when over up tempo beats which may have sounded more suitable for a dance type theme such as "Waiting Too Long".

the album was entirely produced by Swedens The Beatniks, who did a great job on this album. There strong rasta type sound on many of the songs, especially the opening track Get Up Stand Up, which worked well with Cymarshall Laws raspy delivery similar to Mos Def or D.O.C. Others such as Elements, Hook Them, All Right All Real, are more the classic boom bap sound which was done very well.

Overall the stand out tracks for me on this album were Hook Them, All Right All Real, Follow My Lead, Days of Faster, Don't Believe and Elements which was the track which stood out most for me.

Lyrically however the song "Don't Believe" had the best lyrics and message and concept for me, the song was all about how we shouldn't believe everything we hear. One of my favorite lines from the song was "sythening through fiction and fact i found africa is bigger than it is on the maps and no i don't believe everything that you write/messing with cha and one day dr. king will be white/".

Production wise Elements, Days of Faster, Follow My Lead had the best beats, with Elements being my favorite beat from the album, it also featured some dope cuts from DJ Don Martin, the beat actually sounded a little similar to Exiles style.

There are times where the subject matter may not suit the type of beat such as Ms Liquor Spliff, however it is something i can easily get over.
the production is often very rhythmic and uptempo on many songs such as Get Up Stand Up, Christening, Waiting Too Long, Come Correct. But the production was very consistant all throughout the album, there wasn't one single beat on this album that i wasn't feeling.

Lyrically both Cymarshall Law and Skit Slam kill it, using a lot of slick word play and multi's, especially on the song "Follow My Lead". Cymarshalls raspy jamaican delivery worked well and really lifts up the energy of the track, especially during times when the energy does die down a little on some songs.

overall i give this album a 4/5 or 90-80%. solid production track to track. the only down points (if any) for the album for me were that certain parts of certain songs lacked a little energy and that some subject matter didn't suit the type of beats as much. However there were definitely more highlights than lowlights so those more than made up for it.
Every song had solid lyrics making this an album you need to relax and chill to and pay attention to the detail and message in the lyrics.

If you haven't checked these guys out yet you should really check this album out, especially if you were a fan of
Mos Def and Talib Kwelis Black Star album as this uses many of the same themes. Dope lyrics and dope production so
hip hop heads will not be disappointed in his album.