Album Review: Death Grips-Bottomless Pit

The past several years have been a whirlwind for the psychotic, polarizing musical army otherwise known as Death Grips. Ever since they exploded following the release of The Money Store in April 2012, they've been dropped from Epic Records, announced their "disbandment" via a hand-written note on their Facebook page and become notorious for canceling and/or not showing up for shows at the last minute. Whether their erratic public behavior from fall 2012 through the end of 2014 was genuine or merely a publicity stunt to further solidify their rebellious image is up for debate, but there's no denying that the music they released during this tumultuous period was far from their best work. 2013's Government Plates and 2014's Niggas on the Moon leaned way too heavily on the electronic side of their sound and lacked the unpredictability and aggression that made their first three releases (Exmillitary, The Money Store and No Love Deep Web) so notable. Death Grips finally got out of their creative funk and put their side-show antics to rest with last year's Jenny Death. Jenny Death was by no means a classic, but it was the work of a group that had rediscovered its edge and true musical vision.

If Jenny Death was Death Grips' way of easing back into their original sound, Bottomless Pit is them reminding the world exactly why they became instant cult icons four years ago. From the thunderous drums and buzzsaw guitars of opener "Giving Bad People Good Ideas" to the lo-fi synth attack of "80808", Bottomless Pit is 39 minutes of raw, in-your-face musical insanity. Listening to the unfiltered rage and consistent sense of chaos present on tracks like "Bubbles Buried in This Jungle", "Houdini", "Spikes" and "BB Poison" conjured up the feelings of twisted joy I felt when I heard The Money Store for the first time. I had lost faith that Death Grips was ever going to make a record that connected with me ever again, but they were somehow able to turn back the clocks and return to making music that puts your ears and mind in an unrelenting chokehold. Now that they're fully back on the thumping synthesizers, spastic drums and inaudible yelling train, I sincerely hope that they never stray from making music that sounds like a speed freak's interpretation of the apocalypse ever again. Bottomless Pit is about unlikely as a comeback record as you'll possibly find in the music industry and I can say with complete certainty that this is Death Grips' finest album next to The Money Store.   

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Bubbles Buried in This Jungle
2.Houdini
3.BB Poison