Hell's Pit

Music

Violent J described Hell's Pit as a deliberate return to the stripped-down, minimalistic style of Carnival of Carnage, especially its darker second half. He said the album would feature fewer rock elements and less singing, and would include no guest appearances. As the second part of the sixth Joker's Card, The Wraith, Hell's Pit was created as the direct opposite of its counterpart, Shangri-La, aiming to depict the true horrors of hell. The songs imagine Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope dying and being sent to a hell devoid of hope or peace, a destination for those who fail to atone for their sins.

Violent J called it the darkest and most painful work he had ever made, a collection of horror tales mixed with songs describing hell. The track "Bowling Balls" samples the drum beat from Madonna's "Justify My Love," which itself drew from Public Enemy's "Security of the First World," which was built on the closing drum break of James Brown's "Funky Drummer."

Critical reception

AllMusic's David Jeffries wrote that Insane Clown Posse sound tired of the concept, only getting inspired when they have moved on from it. Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews stated that the album felt like being in a burning pit of Hell in his ears and that he would prefer that to ever playing the album again. Walker MacMurdo of Willamette Week noted that although the first half bears too much resemblance to Korn's early 2000s output, the consistency of the second half makes it one of ICP's stronger offerings.

Hell's Cellar

Hell's Cellar is an EP from the American hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse, put out on July 19, 2018, at the Gathering of the Juggalos festival on Psychopathic Records. The release features nine leftover tracks from the sessions for The Wraith: Hell's Pit, and none of them include verses from Shaggy 2 Dope. A year earlier, the group had announced they would perform the full Hell's Pit album at the 2018 Gathering. On July 13, 2018, they revealed they had uncovered nine lost Violent J recordings from those sessions and planned to drop them as an EP the day of the Hell's Pit show. At their seminar, ICP mentioned they had found 13 songs in total but chose to put out nine now, saving the rest for the 20th anniversary edition.