# Bottomless Pit (album)
**Bottomless Pit** is the fifth studio album by the American experimental hip-hop group [Death Grips](https://www.edgepedia.org/death-grips), released on May 6, 2016 through Third Worlds and [Harvest Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvest-records).[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/65150-death-grips-release-new-album-bottomless-pit-listen/) It is the group's first full-length release after the two halves of *[The Powers That B](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-powers-that-b)* (2015) and after the instrumental EP *Interview 2016*, which appeared on March 22, 2016.[2](https://deathgrips.fandom.com/wiki/Interview_2016) The album runs 13 tracks in 39 minutes and was met with broadly favorable reviews, holding a Metascore of 80 based on 11 critic reviews.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bottomless-pit/critic-reviews)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and release | Death Grips, fifth studio album, May 6, 2016, Third Worlds / Harvest[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/65150-death-grips-release-new-album-bottomless-pit-listen/) |
| Length and tracks | 13 songs, 39 minutes[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/bottomless-pit/1440843865) |
| Notable guests | Guitars by Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos; vocals by Clementine Creevy of Cherry Glazerr on the opener[5](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/death_grips-bottomless_pit) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 80 from 11 reviews (10 positive, 1 mixed); Pitchfork 8.1/10, Spin 8/10, Exclaim! 8/10[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bottomless-pit/critic-reviews) • [6](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21879-bottomless-pit/) |
| Stems release | Instrumental and acapella stems released for free download, following the band's practice on *No Love Deep Web* and *Government Plates*[7](https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/31037/1/death-grips-drop-new-album-bottomless-pit-and-instrumentals) |
| Preceding EP | *Interview 2016*, an instrumental EP released March 22, 2016[2](https://deathgrips.fandom.com/wiki/Interview_2016) |
## Release and rollout
Death Grips announced the album in October 2015 with a video featuring the late actress [Karen Black](https://www.edgepedia.org/karen-black) reading from a screenplay written by drummer [Zach Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/zach-hill).[8](https://www.factmag.com/2016/03/23/death-grips-6-instrumental-tracks-ep-interview-2016/) In March 2016 the group published the 32-minute *Interview 2016* video, in which actor and TV host Matthew Hoffman interviews the band while the audio is replaced with instrumental music; those six untitled instrumentals were then released as the *Interview 2016* EP.[2](https://deathgrips.fandom.com/wiki/Interview_2016) • [8](https://www.factmag.com/2016/03/23/death-grips-6-instrumental-tracks-ep-interview-2016/)
**Singles and teasers.** "Hot Head" was released as the first single in February 2016, and the track "Trash" was available before release only through a special hotline for fans.[7](https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/31037/1/death-grips-drop-new-album-bottomless-pit-and-instrumentals) The band also released the album's artwork, lyrics, and tracklist ahead of the drop, and teased the record with a pair of snippets in the days before release.[7](https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/31037/1/death-grips-drop-new-album-bottomless-pit-and-instrumentals) • [1](https://pitchfork.com/news/65150-death-grips-release-new-album-bottomless-pit-listen/) The album appeared overnight on May 6, 2016, streaming on YouTube and Spotify, with the instrumental and acapella stems offered as a free download alongside it.[7](https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/31037/1/death-grips-drop-new-album-bottomless-pit-and-instrumentals) • [9](https://pitchfork.com/news/65310-death-grips-release-bottomless-pit-stems-for-free-download/)
## Music and tracklist
The tracklist runs from "Giving Bad People Good Ideas" through "Hot Head," "Spikes," "Warping," "Eh," "Bubbles Buried in the Jungle," "Trash," "Houdini," "BB Poison," "Three Bedrooms in a Good Neighborhood," "Ring a Bell," and "8080808," closing with the title track.[1](https://pitchfork.com/news/65150-death-grips-release-new-album-bottomless-pit-listen/)
The album brings back the rock elements explored on the second half of *The Powers That B* and the barrage of synths first heard on *Government Plates* (2013), while returning to a more accessible, hook-oriented package than the band's mid-decade experimental records.[10](https://www.rawckus.com/death-grips-bottomless-pit-review/) Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos sets the tone with guitars on the blasting opener, before which Clementine Creevy of Cherry Glazerr contributes an eerie descending vocal intro; "Hot Head" then leaps between groovy arpeggiated verses and structureless passages, while "Eh" and "Trash" are described as the record's lighter moments.[5](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/death_grips-bottomless_pit) [MC Ride](https://www.edgepedia.org/mc-ride)'s delivery stays loud but places more weight on repetitive, memorable hooks on tracks such as "Warping," "Bubbles Buried in This Jungle," "Trash," and "Three Bedrooms in a Good Neighborhood," with lyrics that lean on death, drugs, and sex.[5](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/death_grips-bottomless_pit)
Apple Music's editorial description calls the record "a strikingly concise iteration of their hip-hop radicalism," noting the opener's marriage of neo-gabber hyper-stutter, sci-fi textures, and MC Ride's hardcore bark, and the closing title track's turbo-charged punk fury.[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/bottomless-pit/1440843865)
## Reception
Critics received the album favorably. Pitchfork's Zoe Camp scored it 8.1/10, writing that the band "stitch together one of their most cohesive grotesques ever, renewing their focus on songcraft, rather than chicanery," and calling it Death Grips' most accessible record since *The Money Store*.[6](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21879-bottomless-pit/) Spin's Mosi Reeves gave it 8/10 and described it as "a rowdy and hypnotic 40-minute suite of alienation and controlled anger."[11](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2016/05/review-death-grips-bottomless-pit/) Exclaim!'s Calum Slingerland, also at 8/10, wrote that despite pairing explosive experimental tendencies with straightforward song structures, "the record is hardly a rehash."[5](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/death_grips-bottomless_pit) On Metacritic the album scored 80, with 10 of 11 reviews positive and one mixed; Pretty Much Amazing gave the highest listed score at 91, and Tiny Mix Tapes the lowest at 50.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bottomless-pit/critic-reviews) On Album of the Year, the album holds a critic score of 81 from 13 reviews and a user score of 88 from more than 13,000 ratings.[12](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/53942-death-grips-bottomless-pit.php)
## References
1. [Death Grips Release New Album Bottomless Pit: Listen, Pitchfork (May 6, 2016)](https://pitchfork.com/news/65150-death-grips-release-new-album-bottomless-pit-listen/)
2. [Interview 2016, Death Grips Wiki](https://deathgrips.fandom.com/wiki/Interview_2016)
3. [Critic Reviews for Bottomless Pit, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bottomless-pit/critic-reviews)
4. [Bottomless Pit - Album by Death Grips, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/bottomless-pit/1440843865)
5. [Death Grips - Bottomless Pit, Exclaim! (May 13, 2016)](https://exclaim.ca/music/article/death_grips-bottomless_pit)
6. [Death Grips: Bottomless Pit Album Review, Pitchfork (May 12, 2016)](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21879-bottomless-pit/)
7. [Death Grips drop new album Bottomless Pit and instrumentals, Dazed](https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/31037/1/death-grips-drop-new-album-bottomless-pit-and-instrumentals)
8. [Death Grips drop 6-track EP from 'Interview 2016' video, FACT Magazine (March 23, 2016)](https://www.factmag.com/2016/03/23/death-grips-6-instrumental-tracks-ep-interview-2016/)
9. [Death Grips Release Bottomless Pit Stems for Free Download, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/news/65310-death-grips-release-bottomless-pit-stems-for-free-download/)
10. [Death Grips - Bottomless Pit Review, Rawckus Magazine (August 24, 2016)](https://www.rawckus.com/death-grips-bottomless-pit-review/)
11. [Review: Death Grips, 'Bottomless Pit', Spin (May 11, 2016)](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2016/05/review-death-grips-bottomless-pit/)
12. [Death Grips - Bottomless Pit, Album of The Year](https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/53942-death-grips-bottomless-pit.php)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Hip hop albums › Experimental hip hop albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license