Esham

The companion to Judgement Day, Vol. 1, this album isn't quite as strong as the first volume, suffering mostly from a number of weak tracks. Granted, "Judgement Day," "Wake the Dead," and "Devil Gets Funky" are rather impressive moments, but this album feels a bit like a collection of leftovers relative to the more consistent first volume. Still, the production is ridden with plenty of grit, and Esham pushes the limits on how disturbing he can be, particularly on "Living in Incest" and "Crib Death," which are much more distasteful than his traditionally morbid lyrics on the first volume. In fact, there are moments on this album when Esham simply goes too far. Of course, this album's challenging and disturbing attributes stand as part of its perverse allure. Still, the first volume doesn't rely quite so much on cheap shock, instead focusing on evocative horror motifs, making Judgement Day, Vol. 2 the less important of the two. [Note that Judgement Day, Vol. 1 and Judgement Day, Vol. 2 were released separately, though intended as companions.] ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide