When prog-metal giants ISIS folded in 2010, three of its members (Bryant Clifford Meyer, Jeff Caxide and Aaron Harris) were left hungry for another project. Fortunately for them, they were able to land the services of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno (one of the few singers to survive the nu-metal atrocity with his credibility in tact). The result is Palms: both the band and their six song, self-titled debut, out through the Mike Patton stable, IPECAC.
Opener Future Warrior sets the scene, with a wash of floating synths that eventually give way to a driving beat and procession of shimmering, melodic riffs. There’s a spaciousness to the song – and, indeed, the album – that works well. The vocals don’t appear for a good minute and a half, allowing the band to settle into a hypnotic groove. When Moreno’s voice does appear, his trademark blend of hushed and acerbic singing melds perfectly with the song’s atmospheric, almost transcendental yearning. Lead single Patagonia comes next, with another spacey burst of searching drums and glacial riffs.
It’s only when the album reaches its mid-section that things go a little awry. There’s nothing particularly wrong with Mission Sunset and Shortwave Radio, it’s just that they lack the melodic flourishes and emotive charge that make the previous two songs memorable.
The somewhat lacklustre middle of Palms, however, is completely redeemed by its closing third. Tropics is the brittle, sea-swept gem of the record. Headbangers will undoubtedly be left disappointed (by the song and the direction of Palms in general), yet, steered by Clifford Meyer’s haunting, ethereal guitar line, Tropics finds Moreno at his tender and visceral best. Antarctic Handshake follows, winding things down even further, revelling in a drone of synths and electronic beats. Tellingly, Moreno spends much of the song singing, in a near mantra: “Let go / It’s time to let go”. And then, finally, after almost forty minutes, the long-awaited breakdown arrives. But when it comes, like the rest of Palms, it comes not in a hail of distortion and throat-tearing screams, but in a flood of reverb-drenched guitars and glorious white noise.
BY WAYNE MARSHALL
Best track: Tropics
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: ISIS, DEFTONES, CAVE IN
In A Word: Atmospheric
