Audiopile Review: Well, shit. Didn’t see this one coming. A reissue of Dälek’s 1998 debut, the industrial-rap milestone Negro Necro Nekros, now expanded to a 2xLP set with unreleased demos and outtakes! For the uninitiated, Dälek was a New Jersey-based duo, made up of the MC Dälek and producer Oktopus. Most of their albums were released on the experimental metal label Ipecac, including their incredible trilogy—From The Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots (2002), Absence (2005), and Abandoned Language (2007)—this new set coming courtesy of their longtime champions at the label too. They toured with Isis and worked with experimental acts like Kid 606, Techno Animal, and the legendary Faust, creating some of the most uncompromising and intense hip-hop of their era. Following in the footsteps of fellow East coasters Company Flow, Dälek pushed Negro Necro Nekros into a dark territory where few had tread, fitting their crushing breakbeats with samples so pummelled and scorched that they’re barely recognizable from their sources. John Coltrane and Miles Davis are both sampled on “The Untraveled Road”, smeared into a distorted dissonance, utilized more for texture than melody. Matching the aural intensity is the incessant stream-of-consciousness flow of MC Dälek, his apocalyptic imagery pushed through gritted teeth. Admittedly, it’s been unexpected to see noise-rap groups like Death Grips, Jpegmafia and Clipping eke out their own corner within mainstream hip-hop, breaking through to much wider audiences than Dalek ever did. But, as they say, Dälek walked so they could run.