Experimental Hip-Hop legends dälek return with their latest full-length album, Brilliance of a

Falling Moon. Taking its name from a section of Erik Larson’s 2011 novel In The Garden of

Beasts, the album paints a fiery portrait of life and resistance in fascist America.

Conceived, composed, and produced by Will Brooks (aka MC dälek) and Mike Mare,

Brilliance of a Falling Moon is a sprawling, uncompromising record that speaks to the political

timbre of the day. Recorded in the group’s Deadverse Studios over the course of 2024 and

2025, Brilliance of a Falling Moon’s beats are propelled by brutal, dust-caked drum breaks

and cloaked in an ominous, otherworldly atmosphere. Taking aim at everything from The

State’s suppression of information to colonialism and Trump’s demonization of immigrants,

Brooks’ rhymes are practically burning with outrage at the current state of the world.

Not only has dälek always presented an undiluted political stance in their music, the band is

part of the continuum of bold, revolutionary hip-hop pioneered by Public Enemy and The

Bomb Squad. dälek has spent decades carving out a unique niche fusing hardcore Hip Hop,

noise and a radical approach to sound. Founded by Will Brooks (aka MC dälek) and Alap

Momin (aka Oktopus),

Dälek debuted in 1998 with Negro Necro Nekros, a sonic tour de force built upon

thunderous drums, blissful ambient sections, and gritty, insightful lyrics. On watershed albums

like 2002’s From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots (2002), Absence(2005), Abandoned

Language (2007), and 2009’s Gutter Tactics(2009), dälek laid a template that added

completely new textural and structural dimensions to rap music.

With this kind of musical and political pedigree, it makes sense that dälek would return with

such a timely record that reflects all of our frustrations.

“The whole project was very influenced by what’s happening in the world and this country,”

Brooks reveals. “During the initial days of the I.C.E. raids, it got me thinking. You see those

powerful photos from the sixties when Black men were marching with the ‘I AM A MAN’

sandwich board signs. It was powerful then; it’s powerful now.”

The spirit of opposition is deeply interwoven into songs like “By The Time We Arrive in El

Salvador” and “Expressions of Love.” On “Normalized Tragedy” Brooks delivers one of the

most Earth-shattering lines on the record. Painting a very real image of social media feeds

littered with horrific headlines and live-streamed genocides, Brooks takes a righteously

indignant vow against apathy; “I for one, never numb to brutality.”

It is here that the core principle of Brilliance of a Falling Moon can be found. Even amongst

the depravity and absurdity of the epoch we’re living in, we have to hold on to the parts of our

humanity that push us to reject injustice. Even as we are made to bear witness to

unimaginable horrors, we can’t turn away. Brooks explains that if we’re going to survive, we

must tap in, remain engaged, and get active.

“When you listen to this, I hope you walk away with hope because we’re still fighting, building,

and pushing.”