DEATH GRIPS / No Love Deep Web [2012]

Such nice young men these Death Grips boys.

2012 saw the major label release of The Money Store only to see No Love Deep Web released  several months later for free by the band, much to their now-former label's dismay.   

Not even 10 seconds into the album, Death Grips make out to break your brain with unpleasant sounds and aggression, in the form of hip-hop made for some sort of deranged electro-horror dance floor.  It's not as strong or as coherent a  listen as The Money Store but it's just as passionate and riotous as their previous efforts.

3 jiffy markers put to good use out of 5

Songs Of Note: Come Up And Get Me; World Of Dogs

DEATH GRIPS / The Money Store [2012]

Hardcore hip-hop act Death Grips proved they were certainly not for the weak of heart on their 2011 mixtape Exmilitary and now take it an extra mile with The Money Store, their first of two albums in 2012.

An alienating mix of Suicidal Tendencies & Throbbing Gristle with Public Enemy & El-P, The Money Store is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding records of the year.  Through all the aggressive, noisy sludge they still manage to ground it all with a floor-stomping, neck snapping rhythm.  Oddly enough, Death Grips signed to a major label with this album but it wouldn't last long as they would prove with their second even more unsettling album of the year.  

4½ newborns in a ski mask out of 5

Songs Of Note: Blackjack;  Punk Weight

DEATH GRIPS - Exmilitary [2011]

Experimental hardcore hip-hop act Death Grips 2011 debut, Exmilitary is admittedly a difficult listen.
Channeling the old-school sounds of Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies mixed with industrial like hip-hop beats that are constantly changing tempo and fractured samples that would be out of place in any other hip hop project, Death Grips isn't for everybody. The hardcore punk aggression is captured perfectly with the brutish like vocals and grungy production that would probably make a Slayer fan think twice about entering a Death Grips moshpit.
It's a little too different for it's own good. Excellent production and composition are overshadowed by the intense anger that seems a bit much at times.

3 Interstellar Overdrives out of 5

Songs Of Note: Klink; Thru The Walls