Review Summary: Everything about Exmilitary is exciting to an alarming extreme.
I got into Death Grips after learning that they were scheduled to open for the NIN/Soundgarden 2014 tour. Of course, they didn't end up playing any shows because they broke up. In order to get into them, I tried downloading anything of their's that was free at first, starting with this mixtape, Exmilitary, their debut. What better way to start listening to a band by listening to their first work? I will say that this probably simultaneous the worst way to begin listening to Death Grips and the best way. Exmilitary is mean and lean, like the MC, dubbed "Ride." It's angry, energetic and high-strung unlike anything I've ever heard before. It displays the very good technical ability of all its members, including and especially producer Flatlander's superb sampling of surf rock tunes from the 50s and 60s. It's like 12 pounds of rage crammed into a 6 pound bag, ready to burst at any point. And it doesn't waste its time meandering in filler or boring verses. Everything about Exmilitary is exciting to an alarming extreme.
Exmilitary is like a journey into the head of a sociopath - all that the main character talks about is his almost cultish sense of narcissism, that he's in fact the beast that he worships, lighting the torch for others to follow him in his escapades of murder, drugs, and even rape. There's a sense of one-sidedness on the subject of sex, as well: the song Lord of the Game can be interpreted as the main character being the top man in any sense of the word, whether he's in charge of the nuclear warheads, as he states explicitly in the song, or if it's metaphorical for any sense of control, or, heaven forbid, something more...phallic. Maybe he's a pimp that is running the whole show, and the fate of humanity rests on his wavering and volatile persona. More nuclear/phallic imagery appears throughout the mixtape, most notably in Takyon (Death Yon), where MC Ride yells like he's right there with you, "Subatomic penetration rapid-fire through your skull." The hook of the song almost sounds like a sort of angry, selfish orgasm, he proclaims that he's "feelin' it," or "feels like killin' it," before yelling TAKYON at the top of his longs in multiple vocal incarnations.
The album's antihero, played beautifully and fittingly by the frontman MC Ride, also speaks of the negatives of the modern pop culture in which Death Grips exists and seems to be presently and openly combatting. The song Culture Shock talks about how our skulls are filled with useless information, and how we abbreviate conversations because our attentions are too small for anything long or thoughtful (perhaps a statement on the pseudo-texting shorthand language). He's got a bone to pick with just about anything that isn't his bandmates.
As far as the musical side, Exmilitary is equally as frightening and intimidating as the lyrics and raps. Drummer/producer Zach Hill unleashes all the weapons at his disposal, whether it's the simple-yet-effective beat of Guillotine, or the math-rock methodical-yet-erratic style of drumming on songs like Thru the Walls. The sampling of 50s and 60s surf and progressive rock songs grounds the music and production to a very strange level, as if Death Grips almost want to push the audience and hiphop genre back to a simpler and more visceral time. Maybe the sampling of those songs (including Pink Floyd's Astronomy Domine) speaks to how everything back then was performed and not taken from anything else or even modified to sound prettier like in modern pop. The sampling in the songs, most notably Spread Eagle Across the Block, are treated like real performances, spliced and contorted to almost sound original, like the songs as they once were, untouched by Death Grips.
Conceptually, musically, and literally, Exmilitary is a monster of a mixtape, plunging the listener to a new world of sonic sociopathy and madness, like the rabbit hole. It's a hell of a starting point for Death Grips' discography, if you want to get right to it and become a true Death Grips listener.
Favorite Tracks
Beware
Guillotine
Takyon (Death Yon)
I Want it I Need it (Death Heated)
Least Favorite Track
Blood Creepin
