Review Summary: Chino Moreno once again delivers.
What is there to say about this EP? There are only five songs. This means there isn't much subject matter to be discussed right? Wrong. Chino Moreno (Deftones, Team Sleep) has always been a sort of quirky musician. Him and his bands have dabbled with every kind of sound spanning from Metal to Electronica. So me being a huge Deftones fan, was very excited to see Chino working on a new side project. I enjoyed Team Sleep and had high expectations for his new project. For this one Chino decided to pair up with Far guitarist Shaun Lopez. What was the end result? A fantastic EP that is sure to get some praise.
So where to begin with this; well, from the second the first song comes on you know your in for a treat. A nice drum kicks in with some nice synth effects to go with it. After that Chino's vocals kick in. This is probably one of the more aggressive sounding tracks. The lyrical content on this track is very out there. Like most stuff Chino writes, you can barley understand what he is saying. The lyrics are very abstract and take some good focusing to even scrape the surface of what they mean.
After the opening track we get Option. This one is a personal favorite of mine. It starts out with a nice little synthesizer intro and then, boom! It hits with a pounding bass and ferocious guitar. Chino really puts out a lot of emotion on this track. This is why I love it so much. You can't go through this song without feeling the emotion in it. Once Option finishes we get Bermuda Locket. This is the second slowest song on the EP that captures a very calm side of Chino. Again the instrumentation and synth effects on this track are exceptional. This is a reoccurring theme with the EP.
The last two tracks are probably the darkest tracks on the EP. thholyghst starts off with a very ominous sounding guitar with some very spooky piano. Don't let the calmness of the beginning fool you. Once you get into to this track it hits you hard with an amazing chorus. The final track here it simply titled Cross. This one reminds of something you would hear out Namco Museum. It's a really nice track that is very nice to listen to when you just want to relax.
So what else is there to expect from Chino? Well, I haven't listen to EP II yet, but I am hoping to. Chino Moreno will always deliver when it comes to music. He is what music is to me. Emotion, passion and dedication. This is why almost everything he puts out will be amazing. So in the end if you haven't listened to this EP I highly recommend it.
