Death Grips - NO LOVE DEEP WEB
Artist: Death GripsAlbum: NO LOVE DEEP WEBLabel: EpicRelease Date: October 1, 2012Between their violently post-modern lyrics, brutal videos and album art, reclusive nature, and obsession with the occult, noise-hop trio Death Grips have become one of the scariest things in music since Varg Vikernes burnt a church. With each album, Death Grips has been able to push their psychotic, punishing sound to new and crazier places.Exmilitary introduced the world to the crazed shouts and glitchy pummeling noise that has come to define the group, and The Money Store took that sound in new directions with eclectic production and catchier hooks. On NO LOVE DEEP WEB however, Death Grips have pared their sound down from the diversity of Money Store, focusing more on jumpy and sparse drum machine beats to accompany MC Ride's vocals. Death Grips claimed in an interview that NO LOVE DEEP WEB was to be their “heaviest,” album to date, and where minimalist drums may not sound heavy or intense for some, the vocal performance from MC Ride helps keep NO LOVE DEEP WEB memorable and hard throughout.Through Death Grips' short history, MC Ride's personality has been the most memorable and haunting aspect of Death Grips' sound. Despite this however, he has been pretty one-dimensional as a character, his emotional spectrum pretty much spanning from rage, paranoia, and more rage. On NO LOVE DEEP WEB however, MC Ride really shines in the limelight provided by album's pushed-back production. We're treated to some of his most insane screaming to date on tracks like “Come Up and Get Me,” (in which he screams himself horse every refrain) and “No Love,” (in which the background completely drops off at a point and lets Ride just rant to himself in silence). These Death Grips-y moments are represented, but the most interesting aspects of Ride's performance on the album are of a more toned down and intimate nature. It sounds ridiculous, but as a Death Grips fan who has heard nothing but shouts and screams from MC Ride thus far, listening to him sing and not sound deranged is a really new experience. Songs like “Lil Boy,” and “World of Dogs,” feature repetitive, monotone vocals that almost make the listener really pity the character MC Ride portrays. He manages to come across as so hopeless and empty, beyond even the desire for the catharsis his atavistic rages afford him.The diversity of Ride's performance makes NO LOVE DEEP WEB a really awesome listen. While less of a banger than The Money Store, Death Grips' latest release may be their most powerful and affecting yet.
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