Dälek: Sounds from the Deadverse

Album: Abandoned Language
Artist: Dälek
Genre: Hip-Hop/Glitch-Hop
Year: 2007
Label: Ipecac

I don’t know how to review Hip-Hop. There I said it. It’s something I haven’t done before. I’m not sure what to say about Hip-Hop. I know what I like about it, but the mechanics don’t come as easily to me as they do for, say, Avant-Chamber Metal. Do I talk about the beats? The prose? The overall effect? I don’t know. That being said, I really, really, really love this album. MC Dälek and Oktopus are geniuses. The album is a ride through a void so dark and surreal that even David Lynch (who is name checked, if only in title) would be proud. This is Dälek’s (pronounced Dialect) third album and my first and it has become one of my favorite Hip-Hop albums.

I’m not a fan of mainstream Hip-Hop, most of it seems like aggravated party music to me. Dälek is an excellent antidote. How do I describe the sound? Oktopus is a producer from another world, crafting the beats and soundscapes like a dark wizard spinning magic, creating walls of dark, flowing noise, not unlike if Lustmord was a little more dynamic and went Hip-Hop. Initially, I found the individual tracks very difficult to tell apart, but over time the subtler textures start to emerge. MC Dälek’s voice, flows like a river, steady, strong and powerful. The darkness this man speaks of isn’t fantastical or fictional; it’s a very real human darkness. Poverty, Politics, Corruption, Community’s Falling Apart, all of these get equal time to be examined.

Yet, in some moments, glimpses of hope shine through the darkness. On “Stagnant Waters” When MC Dälek says “I Need My People” they respond “We’re Right Here!” Dälek is quite poetic, blurring the lines between Spoken Word and Rapping (if there is one) with ease. Of course, MC Dälek’s words sound best supported by Oktopus’s production. The samples used are perfectly placed, from the alto sax burst on “Starved for Truth” To Kronos Quartet Esq. strings which the instrumental “Lynch” is built on. There is an overall theme to the album; Text, Script and Language are all commonly brought up. They are all given the most time on the opener and title track “Abandoned Language.” At ten minutes long, it’s a trip, but a good one. This album is a work of art, pure hip-hop art and I feel privileged to have found it. If you’re looking for an album that’s unique not just in the world of Hip-Hop, but in the world of music itself, pick this up. You won’t regret it.