Hip-Hop legends dälek return with new album "Brilliance of a Falling Moon"
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.
With the album announcement they share the track Better Than, about which dälek says;
“Better Than encapsulates the new sound and feel of the record perfectly. It conveys the anger, frustration, and defiance of the moment. Sonically, it is somehow simultaneously, sparse and stripped down, yet complete and dense. A new wall of sound built only of the absolutely necessary elements.”
You can check out the official lyric video for Better Than on YouTube below:
Recorded in the group’s Deadverse Studios over the course of 2024 and 2025, the beats on “Brilliance of a Falling Moon” 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.
“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.”
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.”
Once again the band has teamed up with artists Paul Romano and Mikel Elam for the striking package artwork.
“Brilliance Of A Falling Moon” tracklist
1 - Better Than
2 - Knowledge | Understanding | Wisdom
3 - Normalized Tragedy
4 - Expressions Of Love
5 - Substance
6 - I AM A MAN
7 - For The People
8 - By The Time We Arrive In El Salvador
Out on 27th March 2026 via Ipecac Recordings, “Brilliance of a Falling Moon” is available to pre-order HERE
Photo (c) Ashkan Sahihi
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.
