One of the most vicious – and viciously original – hip hop outfits in the world, New Jersey duo Dälek are proof that genre-blending doesn't necessarily entail genre-blanding, investing hip-hop with an experimental edge and an ear for sonic extremity, weaned as much on Sabbath, Melvins, My Bloody Valentine and Faust as the brutalist bricolage of the Bomb Squad, Mobb Deep, Schooly D and Wu Tang. Dälek's fourth full-length album for Ipecac, Gutter Tactics is a liberating crawl through sewers sonic and metaphorical, the outfit's trademark bipolar personality – mellow vs aggressive, ethereal vs earthy – reconciled into a single sonic entity. The overall murk of the sound itself makes good on producer and founder okt0pus' mutterings about "David Lynch lighting – shadowy, claustrophobic, but shoved with detail," his aural edifices rich in texture and shading. MC Dälek's inimitable flow is deeper and more truthful/painful than ever, essaying the nightside of the psyche with an articulate rage. Gutter Tactics is the next step on dälek's long journey through the dark night of the soul – join them if you dare.