Dälek
Album: Respect to the Authors
Category: Hip-Hop / Post-Rock / Experimental
Label: Exile on Mainstream Records
Release Date: 2019-03-08
For those unfamiliar with the group, Dälek – pronounced ‘die-a-leck’ – is a hip-hop group that, unlike most American rap groups, has been more associated with industrial, metal, and post-rock. While the music keeps the hip-hop beats, there is a heavy use of drone and synth pads to create dense backing tracks that are just as important as the vocals and completely drive how Dälek is seen around the world. Respect to the Authors picks up where 2017’s Endangered Philosophies left off and isn’t a major change from the band’s past output, except that now, there are times when the noise threatens to overwhelm the vocals like in the opening title track. There are multiple sounds that build up and layer over each other to a hip-hop beat, and once the vocals kick in, there is another distorted pad going that is lightly carrying a melody, but also comes close to overpowering the vocals. It comes off as a wall of sound with peaks and valleys as the layers fade in and out, and the effect is utterly hypnotic. If you were to compare this to tracks from 17 years ago, there isn’t a huge difference other than the heavier embrace of ambient noise and drone genres. Some might say that Dälek is a bit of a niche act where the listener really needs to be a fan of hip-hop, noise, and ambient to enjoy what the group is creating… but it is a powerful combination of dense, dark, cinematic atmosphere and driven rap lyrics.
Track list:
- Respect to the Authors
- With These Mics
- Molten
- Defiant
- Words Connect
- Seek Harbor
Dälek
Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp
Exile on Mainstream Records
Website, Facebook, YouTube
Douglas Leach (nowandforalltime)
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