Knights of the Underground Table is the debut album by the Australian hip hop

Australian hip hop

Australian hip hop music began in the early 1980s; originally it was primarily influenced by hip hop music and culture imported via radio and television from the United States of America. However, since the 1990s, a distinctive local style has developed. Australian hip hop is an underground music...

 group Def Wish Cast

Def Wish Cast

Def Wish Cast are an Australian hip hop group originally from around Penrith, Sydney. Currently they reside in a few areas around the City of Sydney.-Biography:...

. It was released in 1993 on CD and cassette

Compact Cassette

The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

 by Random Records. The album was recorded in St Clair

St Clair, New South Wales

St Clair is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Clair is located 49 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region...

 in Western Sydney

Western Sydney

Western Sydney is a major region of Sydney, Australia. It has a number of different definitions but one consistently used is the region composed of the 11 councils which until recently were all members of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils:* Auburn Council* Bankstown City Council*...

. Group members Def Wish and Sereck designed the Def Wish Cast logo that appears on the album artwork. It is one of the first full length Australian Hip Hop

Australian hip hop

Australian hip hop music began in the early 1980s; originally it was primarily influenced by hip hop music and culture imported via radio and television from the United States of America. However, since the 1990s, a distinctive local style has developed. Australian hip hop is an underground music...

 albums.

Although the album varies in musical style, it mostly consists of gangsta

Gangsta rap

Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...

 and ragga

Ragga

-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...

 hip hop. Throughout the album, the group make various references to Sydney landmarks (such as the Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...

) and areas such as Penrith

Penrith, New South Wales

Penrith is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penrith is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith...

, Parramatta

Parramatta, New South Wales

Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...

, Mount Druitt

Mount Druitt, New South Wales

Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mount Druitt is located 43 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.There are numerous...

 and St. Marys

St Marys, New South Wales

St Marys is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales Australia. St Marys is located 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith....

 of Western Sydney

Western Sydney

Western Sydney is a major region of Sydney, Australia. It has a number of different definitions but one consistently used is the region composed of the 11 councils which until recently were all members of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils:* Auburn Council* Bankstown City Council*...

. The album directly samples segments of Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

, Excalibur

Excalibur (film)

Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner...

and various horror films. All turntablism

Turntablism

Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...

 is by DJ Vame

DJ Vame

DJ Vame is one of Sydney's leading hip hop producers contributing over 20 years of production to the local hip hop scene. A founding member of Def Wish Cast, DJ Vame contributed to their most prolific early releases, including the Mad as a Hatter EP in 1992 and Knights of the Underground Table in...

.

In 2011, Knights Of The Underground Table placed 91st on Triple J

Triple J

triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

's "Industry List" as part of the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time, 2011

Triple J Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time, 2011

The Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time is a listener-voted countdown of albums run by Australian radio station Triple J in June and July 2011. In May 2011, Triple J music director Richard Kingsmill announced that the station would be conducting another special Triple J Hottest 100...

 poll. The "Industry List" included some of the country's top musicians and industry experts.

Track listing

1. "The Arrival" – 0:49
2. "Rappin' in My Sleep" – 4:48
3. "They Will Not Last" – 5:05
4. "Yard Kill" – 2:13
5. "Perinnial Cross Swords" – 5:47
6. "Runnin' Amok" – 5:07
7. "Camp Vengeance" – 1:20
8. "Mass Murda (A Psycho's Pleasure)" – 2:44
9. "A.U.S.T." – 3:53
10. "Battlegrounds of Sydney" – 2:49
11. "Chris Missed the Point" – 4:16
12. "Xcrin" – 1:36
13. "Knights of the Underground Table" – 3:24
14. "Saga (Iron Fist)" (featuring Madcap, Merma, Mistery, Quro
    Quro
    Quro is an Australian hip hop MC from Adelaide, South Australia who now resides in Sydney, New South Wales. He has been involved on the Australian hip hop scene since about 1992, when he formed part of the legendary Adelaide hip hop group Finger Lickin Good with MC Madcap...
    
    , Reason and Wizdm
    Brethren (Australian group)
    Brethren are one of the longest-serving hip hop crews in Australia, celebrating 20 years in 2009. The group comprises Matthew Peet aka “Mistery” and Claude Rodriguez aka Wizdm....
    
    ) – 7:27
15. "Clockin' Up the Damage" – 1:47