“Thirty days of night go and coil me up” — have you ever heard these lyrics on your TikTok For You Page (FYP)? They are from the song “Coil” written by Ghost Mountain, a former member and original co-founder of the rap collective known as Haunted Mound (HM).
A musical moniker and label founded by Ghost Mountain (real name Wren Kosinski) and Sematary (real name Zane Steckler, aliases include DJ SORROW and Graveman) in 2019, fans refer to the artists’ sound as a combination of witch house (electronic pop music with pitch-shifted vocals and aggressive basslines), drill (hip hop characterized by haunting beats and dark bars) and trap (hip hop that heavily emphasizes complex, synthesized drums and violent imagery). Sematary released his first album, featuring Ghost Mountain on nearly every song, in 2019 as well. The release was named “Grave House” and some fan favorites from the album were and remain to this day “Fury Road”, “Dead by Dawn”, “New Rocks” and “Orbs”. Upon its quick success, Haunted Mound started releasing new albums left and right. Their next albums would be “Hundred Acre Wrist,” “Warboy’’ and “Rainbow Bridge 1”.
Sadly, Ghost Mountain left the HM label as Kosinski ended up pursuing higher education and leaving his music career behind. He was set to drop an entire album, but it was never completed after he left. There were some songs leaked from it, however, like the already mentioned “Coil” and “Your Face in the Window”, which are both slower melodic songs compared to the upbeat rap elements from Sematary’s music. Sematary did produce the album for Ghost Mountain, but it never saw an official release and likely never will.
There are a lot of members of the HM aside from the founding duo (and also non-members for whom Sematary mixes music). There are five main artists on the Haunted Mound label, starting with the newer two-piece of Sematary and Hackle, who are also the executive managers of HM. Hackle’s one album and a smattering of singles, such as “Peterbilt”, “Dumbo ft. Buck” and “Nothing”. Before Hackle was in HM, he went by the name Burlapper, but HM fans tend to agree that his fierce rap style better fits the ominous synth parts and ghostly rhythms with which the label has become synonymous.
The next artists on the label are Buckshot and Turnabout, the former of whom also just has one album but is featured in many songs by other artists on the HM roster. His songs are centered around paranoia, addiction, suicidal thoughts and dealing with sickness. “Keepe Out” is a reference to a 17th-century pamphlet’s warning about the bubonic plague, while “OVER THE HILLS” goes in deep on the subject of depression and “In the Morning” alludes to a grotesque scene from the horror film “Midsommar”. All of these are on his mixtape “Burning Barn”. Turnabout (or “Turn” for short) has two albums, one of which was just released in July called “Lord of Ephraim”. This mixtape is mixed by Sematary and Gonerville while Buck’s songs are mixed by Sematary and Oscar18. Some of the songs on Turn’s new album include “Grimace”, “Windows” and “Catacombs Freestyle” which features Sematary on the mic as well.
“The Turnabouts’ new album, ‘LORD OF EPHRAIM’, is amazing,” Hanan Mohamoud (9) said. “I listened to some of the songs released like ‘Feel Like God’, ‘Nightmare Wimp’, ‘Play In Your Blood’, and more! [They] are amazing to listen to, and I was excited to see the new album released!”
Sematary, in particular, rose in popularity across various subculture corners of the internet before his recent rise to fame via social media. Once regarded as an underground artist, he is now performing with larger, more mainstream artists like $uicideboy$. He recently completed his first world tour after he performed with Florida rapper BLP Kosher at Summer Smash, a notable Midwest musical festival just a couple of weeks after they debuted their new song together titled “Huntin Wabbits”.
Though HM, particularly Sematary, garner a lot of hate, their fanbases seem only to continue to grow. More and more people dress in HM-styled clothing such as B.B. belts, Robin jeans and brands such as True Religion, New Rock and Affliction. Although Sematary got his sense of style from early 2010s rapper Chief Keef, most people associate these fashions with HM. This has led to HM fans commenting on True Religion and Affliction’s social media accounts to collaborate with Semetary and other members of HM, as you’ll not see Sematary or Hackle in True Religion and Affliction. They even go as far as to mention said brands in their songs, with Sematary making a song called “Truey Jeans” with lyrics such as “I just be flexing in my Truey Jeans.”
“This was my first time listening to HM. I listened to “Hollowed Be My Wrist. I like the people on the track and some of the words, what I dislike is how loud the music is I can barely hear what they are saying. On the track “Bunny Suit”, I like the beat and the people on the song [but] what I dislike is why is he talking about doing things in his bunny suit so it’s very repetitive” Harmony (9)
The HM is rapidly gaining a plethora of fans. Even some of their songs have been blowing up on TikTok, even though they have no clue who Sematary is, nonetheless the HM. HM is growing more and more every day, will you be around to witness it?
