Keeping up with the Death Grips has increasingly become a headache. Cryptic break-up notes, a tumultuous split with Epic, a realignment with Harvest, cancelled tours (including one with Nine Inch Nails), no-show gigs: All of these antics were tolerable, sometimes fun, when they came backed up by compelling music. But even that part of the bargain, over the last year, has proved questionable. Last year’s Niggas on the Moon leaned too heavily on Björk samples and flattened their approach, while Fashion Week was an intriguing, if ultimately directionless, collection of instrumentals. *Fashion'*s song titles spelled out JENNYDEATHWHEN, hinting cryptically that their next album would be Jenny Death, the second half of the two-part sequence called The Powers That B. But by Fashion, it was hard to tell if even their hardcore faithful cared about what they would do next.

Jenny, which Death Grips streamed on YouTube last week in advance of its release, is the record they needed to make. It’s not on the level of their artistic and commercial breakthrough The Money Store, but it will absolutely remind you of why you loved them in the first place. In fact, it’s so different from (and better than) Moon that it shouldn’t even be tethered to it. On these ten tracks, they’ve harnessed the unbridled energy of Government Plates into their most fully formed songs since Money, which helps justify their bluster.

Producer Andy "Flatlander" Morin brings a lot of the death-disco of Money back into the mix, which broadens their approach without compromising their potency. Nothing here reaches the aggro-pop heights of "I’ve Seen Footage", but "Inanimate Sensation" comes close; it's clear why it was released as the first single. Over Flatlander’s seasick bass synths, Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett jumps through various vocals patterns—his trademark bark, chopped-and-screwed raps, menacing whispers—and ends up with something like a Jock Jams for the underworld. The buildup to MC Ride’s final verse is a staticky, topsy-turvy rush, culminating with the soon-to-be-immortal "I like my iPod more than fucking!" Yell that with your headphones on at work.

MC Ride was so sorely missed on Fashion that his presence on Jenny feels like a triumphant comeback. Flatlander may provide the electronics and Hill may bring the percussive energy (and also lent initial critical credibility) to Death Grips, but MC Ride is the unpredictable heart of the group. He was somewhat lost in the madness of Plates and subdued on Moon, but he is in full, raw force here: The title "I Break Mirrors With My Face in the United States" brings to mind a sadistic animated .gif enacting the Black Flag Damaged cover, and MC Ride's raging, hypnotic vocal reinforces this impression. He isn’t just a spiral of rage, either—"Pss Pss" casts him in creep mode, suggesting illicit fantasies in a hushed whisper.

The music on Jenny nods to Death Grips' more conventional rock influences, but it’s in no way trying to pander to a rock audience. Each element they reference is blown up and rebuilt in their own vision. Vaguely surfy dream-pop gets shot into overdrive on "Centuries of Damn". "Beyond Alive" and "ON GP" both contain big rock riffs, the latter approaching metalgaze territory. "GP" inflates MC Ride’s discontentment into something massive and anthemic. It’s jaded stadium rock—all it needs is a stadium and an ironclad guarantee they’ll show up.

You hear more of drummer Zach Hill’s acoustic drums on Jenny, too. He continues to unlearn his technical prowess from his Hella days, but he’s electrifying even when going back to basics. Throughout, you can hear them furthering their vision for aggression without borders, swallowing in hip-hop, hardcore, industrial, and the hardest forms of dance music, while not in debt to any one of those elements. Death Grips don’t just imagine a world where rap-rock is redeemed and various forms of heaviness coexist side-by-side, but where those lines are obliterated. That fantasy may not have panned out quite the way it should have, but to deny their ambitions does a disservice to what heavy music can be.

Closer "Death Grips 2.0" acknowledges the ongoing "will they or won’t they" dynamic that’s long been a point of frustration amongst their critics. The title suggests a rebirth, but the content, a sort of Araabmetalmuzik blast of cut-up industrial beats, could also be a fiery demise. It’s the perfect Death Grips closer, especially with their status in constant question. Right after their alleged "breakup," there were eulogies for the group, but Death Grips are not the sort of group to be eulogized. Are they calling it quits after this record and tour? Was the breakup even real to begin with? It’s hard to speculate whether Jenny is a redemptive closing chapter, a new beginning, or some other inscrutable part of Death Grips’ master plan, if they even have such a thing. What is evident is that Jenny Death is some of their strongest material in a while, and may even return a few disillusioned converts to the flock.