From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots

Album review

If you're the type of hip-hop fan who finds a group like OutKast a tad too experimental for your tastes, you might wanna back away from this album slowly and try not to make any sudden moves. With a cacophonous sound that falls somewhere between the Bomb Squad, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, and that annoying guy with the jackhammer who just...won't...stop, this is music for those people who think Anti-Pop Consortium just isn't quite weird enough. The jarring industrial noise that drives the opening "Spiritual Healing" is your first clue that Dälek is coming from a whole 'nother frame of reference, with producer Oktopus' grinding grooves providing a dense, dark backdrop for some furiously inventive mike work. Thankfully, not every track here is quite so chaotic: The haunting instrumental "Antichristo" wouldn't sound out of place on a DJ Shadow album, while the exotic Indian drones and tabla beats of "Trampled Brethren" almost border on accessible. But even a noise-loving freak like DJ Spooky would be put off by the dissonant, 12-minute spoken word epic "Black Smoke Rises." Warning: Easy listening this is not.

© Bret Love /TiVo