IN REVIEW: ††† - S/T

Chino Moreno has been busy as of late. In addition to releasing career highlight albums with Deftones (his main gig for 20+ years), he's found himself broadening his horizons with side projects. In 2011, he formed Palms with former members of Isis and released their debut album last year; it's a good listen, albeit far moodier and more atmospheric than Deftones fans were used to.

That same year, Moreno formed ††† with Far guitarist Shaun Lopez and Chuck Doom. Two EPs followed, one in 2011 and one in 2012. This, the debut full-length album, collects the EPs together with a third that the group recorded last year. That would presumably make for an uneven album, but the fifteen tracks here flow together surprisingly well, especially considering they're not in the same order as they were in EP form.

It's fair enough to draw comparisons to one of Moreno's former side projects; Team Sleep, which released their only album in 2005, surrounded Moreno's vocals with electronic flourishes as well. However, where that album often played like a Deftones record with all the heaviness removed, ††† only reminds one of Deftones because the two projects share a singer. To be sure, there are familiar elements present, it's just much easier to listen to this album removed from that context than Team Sleep was; after all, this is when we didn't know Chino as anything but the singer for Deftones.

If it feels like the album lulls just a bit around its midpoint, it probably has more to do with the insanely high quality of the opening sequence of tracks than a perceived drop in said quality. In fact, the first six songs on this album are arguably more rewarding than anything Moreno's recorded before (including 2012 Album of the Year Koi No Yokan). Those familiar with the two previous EPs will already know four of them, including album opener †his Is A †rick (yes, all the T's are stylized like that) and perfect world radio contender †rophy.

However, it's the new songs that steal the thunder on the album's first half. Bi†ches Brew, which got a spooky video late last year, is at once lush, dark and bombastic, with a big time payoff that (if I can be frank) a few other tracks on the album sorely lack. Then, there's †he Epilogue, a slick track with a smooth beat and Chino in fine voice. It finds Moreno using that voice of his for far more melodic purposes than we're perhaps used to, and it's thrilling to hear him pull it off so effortlessly.

There are a few more highlights waiting for us on the back half; Op†ion, from the first EP, uses an especially tasty bass line to lift it out of the muck, while Blk S†allion (another of the new songs) is interesting and adventurous, with a midsection that actually catches you off guard a bit. And Prurien† hits a big pop stride despite starting out a bit sluggish.

All told this album is a consistently engaging listen that often threatens to burn itself out but never does. Its fifteen tracks are a bit of a chore, but they obviously wanted to give fans complete versions of the first two 5-song EPs (only available digitally until now) and a new EP's worth of tunes. Still, in my experience 12/12 trumps 12/15 anytime, even if it means driving the completists mental.

February 11, 2014 • Sumerian

Highlights Bi†ches Brew • †he Epilogue • Blk S†allion