MSTRKRFT: "We tried to make ‘festival weapons,' so when we play them, it's like throwing a million hatchets into the audience," explains Jesse F. Keeler, one half of DJ/production duo MSTRKRFT, describing the songs from the upcoming album, Fist Of God (to be released 3/17 on Dim Mak/Downtown). "When we play our own records, they need to be big." Indeed, when it came to following up their acclaimed debut, 2006's The Looks, MSTRKRFT looked to their experience behind the decks, spinning everywhere from packed, sweaty clubs to major festivals like the World Electronic Music Festival and Bonnaroo. "When we made The Looks, we hadn't started DJ-ing professionally," says Al Puodziukas, the other half of MSTRKRFT better known as Al-P. "This record is more like what we'd play out in our sets."

"Making The Looks was a debauched time," Jesse adds. "We'd go out and party every single night, then come to the studio at 1:00 pm. We're still going out every night, but around the world, which is a very different experience. It may sound arrogant, but from our DJ experience we've developed ideas about what people should be listening to." That's demonstrated by Fist of God's sonic evolution. Not only are the beats fatter than ever this time around, they also represent Al-P and Jesse's mutation of today's best urban music into MSTRKRFT's distinctively brutal club grooves. Throughout Fist, slamming cameos from the likes of John Legend, N.O.R.E., Ghostface Killah, E-40, Freeway, and Isis of Thunderheist all get MSTRKRFTED. "It wasn't a conscious decision to incorporate more of those sounds," Jesse clarifies. "It's just a reflection of where our heads are at."