Max Romeo - World Of Ghouls (Charmax Music)

Max blijkt een liefhebber van numerologie en dus neemt dit 45ste album sowieso een speciale plek in in zjn discografie: "45 is a very auspicious number you know, one that teaches us to prepare well for certain changes that in the long run make us happier through new opportunities and prospects. 45 is also seen as a 9 (4 + 5 = 9), another lucky number, that symbolizes a certain amount of wisdom and experience. In my view, based on what I see happening in the world today, it does appear as if we are living amongs legions of ghouls. In all facests of our world, medically, environmentally, economically, politically, spiritually, physically and mentally there seems to be a morbid interest in chaos, destruction and death, thus the name 'World Of Ghouls'. So, this album is my 45 or 9 to shoot down the ghouls with word, sound and ultimate power!".

'World Of Ghouls' werd geproduceerd door zijn zoon Azizi, die naast reggae ook invloeden uit trap in het werk van zijn vader introduceerde ('Knowledge', 'Kick Back', 'Flatten The Curve'). Azizi is samen met zijn broer Romario aka. Lil Rolee en zus Xana ook te horen in enkele van de tracks op het album.

Ook Max ontsnapte niet aan de COVID-19 pandemie en haar gevolgen. In het al vermelde 'Kick Back' klinkt het: "Kick back with a sixpack… There's a lockdown, it's at seven, no socializing, keep your distance and just kick back with a sixpack…" en voor 'Flatten The Curve' verzamelde de hele familie om maatregelen zoals een mondmasker dragen of handhygiëne te verdedigen en de mentale last van de pandemie te onderlijnen:

If you don't know the cause
How can you find the cure
How can we kick this plague from off our shore

Get rid of this scourge 
Flatten the curve
It's what we deserve
In this pandemic
This pandemic

Get rid of this scourge 
Flatten the curve
It's what we deserve
In this pandemic
This pandemic

Eh
It's not a curve it's a hump
Killing one thousand every month
Wear a mask wear a gloves
You've got to be hygienic
In this ya pandemic
Woei

Them tell us don't panic
Yet them have us under lockdown
Quarantine the whole town
Affi put a stop now
Stay home and stay safe 
Just have faith
Don't be afraid

Get rid of this scourge 
Flatten the curve
It's what we deserve
In this pandemic
This pandemic

Get rid of this scourge 
Flatten the curve
It's what we deserve
In this pandemic
This pandemic

That's how the virus spread
That left so many dead
Sneeze on the plain them land it
No flights allowed them ban it
World in a state of panic
Yuh hands them dutty wash it
Virus easily transmit
Infect the entire planet
Yeah
Sneeze on the bus and them left you on the road
Cough on the boat and they throw you over board

I'm afraid to go out the door
Can't take the pain and stress no more
Nowhere to go 
Nothing to see
Four walls closing in on me
Four walls closing on me
Four walls closing in on me 
Four walls closing in on me

Is this the reward of the wicked 
Or payback to the crooked and stupid
Or is it a reminder that Jah is watching us recording every move we make
Or is that Jah is testing us to see how strong we are in faith
Let's roll with the punches
As we ride with the tide 
The greatest thing to do is to stay alive
Stay alive
Stay alive

Aangezien wij zelf ook niet over een wagen beschikken, zelfs geen fiets, voelden we ons wel aangesproken door de lyrics van 'Ten Toe Turbo', een ode aan de voetganger dus: "I don't grudge for your car… Don't have your dollars, your pound or your euro, so I get home on my ten toe turbo! Ten toe turbo never breaks down, when me and my ten toe heads to town. Don't have no petrol or insurance bill, don't need no horsepower to go over the hill…"

Autobiografisch is natuurlijk 'Life Of A Farmer' (als hij niet toert brengt Romeo al zijn tijd door op zijn farm), waarin Max de alledaagse strijd van de kleine landbouwer perfect weet te vatten:

I got to plough that field
Just to find my daily meal 
I'm a farmer
Am a farmer

Got to reap the cane
Take the chicken out the rain
Got to mow the meadow

I see hungry days ahead
Yes the time it will be dread
But I'm a farmer
I'm a farmer
Cause my hens will give me eggs
And my cows will give me milk
No blood no sweat no tears and no pain

Well I love the life of a farmer
A farmer
A farmer's life is all I know
Yeah, yeah
Yes I love the life of a farmer
I sow the seeds and watch them grow

Niet echt ons ding is de gospel-pop van 'Are You Coming Again', waarin Max Jezus op de man af vraagt wanneer hij nu eindelijk terug zal keren om de wereld te redden.  En ook het afsluitende 'My Child', dat wat klinkt als een pop-single uit de jaren zestig van de vorige eeuw, wist ons niet meteen te bekoren.

Eigenlijk waren onze persoonlijke favorieten stuk voor stuk in het begin van de tracklist terug te vinden, te beginnen met de spookachtige opener 'World Of Demons', gevolgd door de zware bassen van 'Intimidation' en tenslotte het uitstekende 'Disgrace', waarvoor Azizi de riddim recycleerde die ook al gebruikt werd voor Xana Romeo's 'Holy' en waarin Max van leer trekt tegen de overseksualisering en daarbij horende "beauty trends" die hij bij (te) veel jonge vrouwen in Jamaica ziet:

I know some people real funny
Them don't do road when it sunny
Cause them wearing them bleaching cream
So them don't wish to be on the scene
Them come out a night like a rat bat
With nails like the claws of a pussycat
When them pass you haffi ask a wah dat
Is that a human or a robot

You have some girls weh seh them a queen
I don't know them name so I call them miss cream
Some so young with no experience 
Don't even know what them represent
Them wearing them dress with the tail at the waist
Them don't like them color so them white up them face
Can't bend down in front of I face
I don't want to see them little disgrace

Disgrace
Don't want to see them disgrace
Yeah
Disgrace
I don't want to see you disgrace

You were born a beautiful child
Why would you want to change your style
The beauty of a woman is in her head
Learn to love yourself instead
Yeah

You have some girls weh seh dem a queen
I don't know them name so I call them miss cream
Some so young with no experience 
Don't even know what them represent

Een extra luisterbeurt is voor deze wat atypische Max Romeo-release wellicht geen overbodige luxe, maar daarna bent u hopelijk, net als ondergetekende, helemaal overtuigd!