From the time they dropped their first EP in 2014, $uicideboy$ have specialized in colorful fatalism. Attacking Three 6 Mafia–inspired soundscapes with a barrage of athletic flows, the duo of $crim and Ruby da Cherry have flaunted a knack for bleak yet inventive quips to describe their suffering and their resignation to it. The flippant spirit imbues the whole of their discography, but it is especially pulsating on High Tide in the Snake's Nest. Here, the duo wraps subtly devastating images in wry humor and sinister production fit for a graveyard trap house. With spurts of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony-esque melody and all the ominous sounds fans had already come to expect, it's an immersive experience coated in irony and mania. Situated between existential dread and an exhilarating thrill ride, the mixtape begins with "Diemonds," which sees Ruby planning his suicide while $crim reflects on his commitment to drug abuse. "Rehab's for quitters and I don't give up," $crim raps over some synthy atmospherics that feel plucked straight from Minecraft. The unfortunate, grimly funny bits don't end there. For "Ugly," Ruby raps that his slit wrist is the same color as a red Corvette. The sonics only enhance the all-around depravity; the beat is a Frankensteinian collision of eerie keys and samples from Nas' "Made You Look" and "Life's a Bitch." It sounds like an emo "Boyz-n-the-Hood." While there's a consistently haunting aesthetic to the album, the beats feature splashes of the unpredictable. “Mannequins Are My Best of Friends” features creepy flourishes of New Wave. Meanwhile, the $uicideboy$ themselves alter their cadences and vocal approach so nothing ever feels monotonous; nearly every version of $crim and Ruby dwell within the confines of High Tide. Songs like "Fake Pontchartrain" see them veer into codeine-drenched Auto-Tune, while their Pouya-assisted "$outh $ide $uicide" features their typically percussive flows. It's a shapeshifting affair that works to evoke either frenzied aggression or the unsettling isolation that comes with troubling thoughts.