Death Grips' Bottomless Pit: The noise, the fury, and the digital overload
Listening to Bottomless Pit is like being thrown into a blender of static, paranoia, and unfiltered rage - yet somehow, it's also an absurdly fun ride. By this point in their career, Death Grips had already built a reputation for being unpredictable, self-destructive, and aggressively innovative. But this album? It's something else. It refines the chaos, trims some of the fat from Jenny Death, and delivers a sound that's just as brutal as ever but sharper, more efficient, and weirdly... accessible? Well, accessible by Death Grips standards, anyway.
A new kind of violence
Death Grips have always had a knack for making aggression feel visceral. MC Ride doesn't just rap - he barks, howls, and snarls his way through Zach Hill and Andy Morin's hyperactive, industrial-grade beats. Bottomless Pit takes that energy and tightens it into something razor-sharp. From the opening blast of Giving Bad People Good Ideas, with its demented chipmunked vocals and gut-punch drumming, you know you're in for something relentless. But what makes this album special isn't just its intensity - it's the way that intensity is controlled.
Where earlier albums like The Money Store or No Love Deep Web often felt like they were teetering on the edge of collapse, Bottomless Pit has a sense of precision that makes its chaos feel almost... calculated? Songs like Hot Head and Spikes are still aggressively glitchy and full of distorted screams, but they feel engineered for maximum impact rather than just existing as a noisy spectacle. This is Death Grips as a well-oiled machine of destruction.
Hooks? Death Grips? No way.
One of the weirdest things about this album is how many of these songs are - dare I say it - catchy. Death Grips? With hooks? What timeline is this? Tracks like Eh and Bubbles Buried in This Jungle have these almost hypnotic, looped vocal deliveries that stick in your brain way longer than you'd expect. Warping is another standout, balancing an eerie, robotic groove with MC Ride's usual stream-of-consciousness mania.
But don't get it twisted - this is still Death Grips. It's still abrasive, still unpredictable, and still laced with the kind of cryptic, borderline nonsensical lyrics that make you question whether there's some deeper meaning or if it's just meant to sound cool. (Spoiler: It's both.)
The production: cold, mechanical, and freakishly precise
Andy Morin and Zach Hill have outdone themselves here. The production on Bottomless Pit is dense but never cluttered, chaotic but never sloppy. Every synth squelch, every distorted drum hit - it all feels meticulously placed, almost surgical. It's still noisy, still confrontational, but there's a level of control that makes it feel more refined than some of their earlier work.
The industrial influence is stronger than ever, with some tracks sounding like Nine Inch Nails on steroids (Trash, for example, is pure mechanical aggression). At the same time, there's a weird, futuristic sheen over everything, almost like Death Grips made an album designed to soundtrack a dystopian cyberpunk rave.
Lyrical madness: Ride, as cryptic as ever
If you're looking for Death Grips to start making their lyrics more straightforward, well... good luck. MC Ride is still as cryptic, unhinged, and surreal as ever. There are moments of clarity - Eh feels like some kind of cynical anthem about detachment in the digital age - but for the most part, the lyrics are more about vibe than narrative. And honestly? That works. Death Grips' appeal has never been about telling a linear story; it's about making you feel something. And Bottomless Pit makes you feel like you're being chased through a neon-lit alleyway at 3 AM by an AI that's gone rogue.
Where does this one rank?
Comparing Death Grips albums is tricky because they all serve different chaotic purposes. If you're looking for their rawest, most experimental side, No Love Deep Web or Government Plates might be more your thing. If you want their most polished, The Money Store is still the gold standard. But Bottomless Pit? This might be their most balanced record - combining the raw energy of their early work with the refined, calculated madness of their later material.
It's a high point in their discography, no doubt. And while it might not have the same level of groundbreaking shock as Exmilitary or The Money Store, it proves that Death Grips are still capable of evolving while staying true to their chaotic core.
Final Thoughts
Bottomless Pit is Death Grips at their most focused - which is saying a lot for a band whose entire aesthetic thrives on unpredictability. It's loud, it's abrasive, and it's weirdly fun. If you've never been able to get into Death Grips, this probably won't change your mind. But if you already love their madness, this is a masterclass in refining chaos without dulling its edge.
FINAL SCORE: 8.5/10