My Gory Love Story by Mero
Mero, an underground rapper from Chicago, returns with his sophomore album My Gory Love Story. This album is an atmospheric collection of tracks showcasing the ins and outs of love. Like love itself, the album is a rollercoaster of emotions. It starts out lighthearted and we immediately see the trap-influence with its drums and Juice WRLD-esque melodies. However, the majority of the album is much darker and Mero gets more vulnerable with lines like “Need to escape stop going through the motions / Cycling through life I’m just going through emotions.” Here is where Mero really finds his voice. Songs like “Ain’t a Thing to Me,” “Reminiscent,” and “I’m Sorry” feel genuine and separate him from his peers who often sound too similar to their influences.
In addition to standing out, Mero is very relatable, a trait that you can’t teach in music. His struggles with emotions such as depression and loneliness are evident and well-described in this album: “Confined in my mind it feels like I’m in prison.” His battle with love is gory (hence the title of the project), a very relevant theme for young adults today. The subject matter perfectly matches the dark and moody atmosphere, which is best showcased in the soft, almost lofi production. The instrumentals on here are great with rich samples and strong mixing. I also like the chilling female guest vocals on songs such as “Worst Best Friend” and “Remedy.” I think the biggest strength of this project is that it is a strong collective work, every song sounds like it fits. Mero finds his lane and sticks to it, which is very commendable. Far too often, young artists try to cover all the bases and struggle to form a truly holistic body of work.
My one major criticism of Mero is that the lyricism is sometimes too simplistic. I thought to myself multiple times during this album that he could go deeper. Some lines were repetitive and a couple punchlines such as “Fuck going to the park / We’re taking you to Jurassic” stood out to me as attempts to strengthen the lyricism, but they fell flat. I know Mero has it in him when I hear profound lines like “In the past I was passive / And I still am / Can I stop this habit / Or will it swallow me whole like a dark hole swallows plants.”
This album made me excited for the future of Mero. He has some really great vocal chops that he flexes to form a dark and melodic collection of tracks about the vicious nature of love and romance. His production is solid, he has a unique voice in a genre filled with copycats, and he has subject matter that is easy to relate to. I think he just needs to put it all together now and really hone in on his lyricism to make his next album great. My Gory Love Story is a good project that you should most definitely check out.
Favorite songs: My Bitch, Worst Best Friend, Show Me Love
Rating: 7/10
