Saturday, 14 August 2010

ONE DAY AS A LION – ONE DAY AS A LION (ANTI)


ONE DAY AS A LION – ONE DAY AS A LION (ANTI)

This is the debut from the music project started by Zack de la Rocha in 2008.  As such you can imagine/expect that with his distinct vocal delivery ruling the roost that it is not a million miles removed from the work of Rage Against The Machine.  His partner in crime is Jon Theodore the drummer with The Mars Volta as the backing track feels somewhat drum focused.

Spread over five tracks, all in all this somewhat blunter than his previous outfit.  The sharp delivery of the stabbing keyboards that sound like they could actually be guitars suggests a nastier, less patient approach to proceedings that scolds on execution.  All in all it’s a relentless departure.  It would appear here was a man with still a lot of work on his hands.

The economy and experimentation of the material gives it a more hardcore and less hard rock edge, one that is less forgiving than how things ended up towards the end of Rage Against The Machine.  In a way it suggests a more focused approach as a fresh perspective is attached to the process and aligned with proceedings.

Its funny to note in these songs that de la Rocha is beginning to sing and ironically it sees him sounding like Chris Cornell and thus occasionally things begin to echo and remind of Audioslave, which I am sure was not the intention.

The glistening repetition of the songs give them real motion and relentless energy that drives proceedings forward strengthening de la Rocha in his endeavours.  As far as selecting a backing track and unit, he made a good choice.  Some might say there isn’t a whole lot to differentiate between the music of “Wild International” and “If You Fear Dying” but the reality this is the pulse which serves as secondary when facilitating such an animated individual leading out front.

Based on these five tracks, there are real legs on this project.

Thesaurus moment: detour.

Anti

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