Team Sleep (Maverick)
By Kyle Wagner
Thursday. Jun 09, 2:07 AM
Nü metal vet goes at it with a newfound positive outlook and some ambient / hip hop grooves.

On Team Sleep’s debut, guitarist/vocalist Chino Moreno (of Deftones) pairs with guitarist Todd Wilkinson (amongst others) to partially remove his nü metal jacket and indulge in some hip hop beats and ambient samples. In its weaker moments, it comes across just as Deftones with a drum machine (“Our Ride to the Rectory”). In its stronger moments, however, it attacks you with a lush, swirling, massive sound that pulls your weary mind away from its self-consumption and injects a few minutes of bliss directly into your veins.

The album opens with “Ataraxia,” which begs to be turned up and screamed along to, though I found myself thinking, “wait a minute, this song actually has a hopeful and positive vibe to it...” just seconds before I lost consciousness (in the best of ways). “Your Skull is Red,” with an ambient, full, driving backing track, also sounds, um, happy on some level. Diehard Deftones fans will finally smile (unless that’s too uncool) and feel satiated when the killer track “Blvd. Knights” kicks in. It’s big enough to sound like you are awash in the echoes of a massive arena, but it still feels intimate and personal. The guitar, bass, drums, and vocals leave absolutely nothing to be desired and you’re treated to three minutes of all-encompassing musical greatness. Later on, “Live From the Stage” begins demure but you can feel it building beneath the surface until it explodes into moody and atmospheric (read: largely lyric-less but entirely effective and affective) serious rock. The only downside is that, as you listen to the song, you can’t help thinking how much better it would be if you were hearing it live. These four tracks alone are worth getting your hands on this album.

These highlights are tempered with a few less than satisfying tracks that left me wondering how they even made the cut. “Tomb of Liegia” is a cringe-inducing mess of awful lyrics and lame literal sound effects. Mary Timony (Helium) sings “Hear the crowd of ghosts / their voices dry and hollow / can’t you hear the call / they cheer me to the gallows,” which is literally followed by muted cheering in the background. Isn’t it a bit lame to rely on mentioning ghosts and gallows while Halloween haunted house sound effects play in the background in order to create a dark ambiance? Maybe that’s just me. I half-expected to hear ghosts “wooooo”-ing before the song was over. Also, “King Diamond” – with awkward shouts of “start!” and “restart!” – made me wonder what the hell they were thinking when they decided it was worthy to be included. If you go out and buy the album, which is worth it for the handful of truly great songs and a few other solid tracks, I would suggest ripping the CD to your computer’s hard drive and then re-burning it without these two tracks. It will save you the embarrassment of someone else coming in while one of these songs is on and completely making fun of you (which would be entirely warranted.)

With vocals swimming in reverb, slowly picked moody guitar riffs, throbbing bass, and a sound that is sometimes so large it’s beyond the bounds of your hearing, Deftones fans will find enough material here to cling to for dear life, while those who sit outside the Deftones circle will still find some great music in which to lose themselves. The interspersed programmed beats work at times and distract at others, but overall you’re left with the impression of a rewarding musical experience. With the hints of positive vibes from the first few songs combined with the optimistic closer “11/11,” all the angry kids that will undoubtedly buy this record just might be reminded that life isn’t all pain, even if their music mostly is.
www.teamsleep.com
www.teamsleep.net
www.maverick.com

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Kyle Wagner

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