Pitchfork

There may not be a more apt description of Dälek than this song's title. On the experimental hip-hop group's latest album for Mike Patton's Ipecac label, their relentlessness isn't just fierce-- it also bursts with conviction. "Paragraphs Relentless" lives up to its promise from the word go, riding a harsh, looped beat that doesn't change once-- and doesn't need to-- throughout the song's runtime.

The production here is cleaner than almost anything on their last album, 2005's gritty Absence, retaining that album's bleak heaviness, but the key is the bagpipes that rise between whipsmart verses: It builds to a crushing climax around the five-minute mark, a collision of drones that nearly drown out the drums. Meanwhile, Dälek's rap is a from-the-ground-up love letter to hip-hop as a tool of expression. "My culture does matter," he proclaims in the first verse. Hopefully, anyone listening already knows that, but a track like this should help clear it up for the haters.

MP3: > Dälek: "Paragraphs Relentless"
[from Abandoned Language; due 02/27/07 on Ipecac] | [PRE-ORDER]