Dälek - Gutter Tactics

Like an industrial hip-hop soundtrack to your worst (or favourite) Lynchian nightmare, New Jersey duo Dälek prophesise the apocalypse via the medium of murky beats and a venomous pen with album number five. Surely it's the same intoxicating ambience that draws the viewer further in to the world of Mulholland Drive as grips the listener with Gutter Tactics. MC Dälek’s lyrical bent considers the damage done by imperialism, vicariously waving a finger in old America’s face with a sample from a speech by Reverend Jeremiah Wright where he traces terrorism back to slavery. If you’re of a certain – admittedly obscure – persuasion, the offer of a record which intertwines the ethereal drone of My Bloody Valentine with the rugged delivery of Mobb Deep could leave some jaws on the floor. Gutter Tactics has all that, and enough distortion to keep you in tinnitus for months. Happy days. [Dave Kerr]