El Moono – Temple Corrupted (EP)
Release Date: 4th February 2022
Label: Lockjaw Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Alt-Rock
FFO: Deftones, Black Peaks
Review By: Calvin Ryan
It’s always hard to find new emerging bands who don’t always sound the same and that have that spark to set them aside from the rest. El Moono are one of the few bands that stand out with their genre-bending sound that’s a mixture of Deftones & Black Peaks.
The Wild Hunt is an instrumental opener filled with unsettling synths over a repeated guitar motif messing with your head until Final Execution kicks in with its almost drone-like build-up from guitarist Jamie Haas & drummer Chris Cartwright until the band spring to life with an earth-shattering sound. Slow and doomy with the synth backdrop still in effect, until vocalist Zac Jackson soothes us with his melodic voice and guttural noises going hand in hand with each other.
Requiem dabbles more in the Grungier side of things as it sounds like a mash-up of Alice In Chains meets Black Peaks to create an interesting combination which will make you re-listen more times than you realize. Forced To Smile holds up to the in your face pissed off aggression of punk rock with their own twist to make it seem more unhinged. White Gold & Miseria are both great songs to end on, but the small interlude of Splitting The Atom kind of breaks it up, but nonetheless it’s a small hurdle for an otherwise phenomenal EP.
Without even realizing it, you’ve just witnessed one of the UK’s best upcoming bands to mash genres into each other and make it sound perfect and not a car crash. El Moono has got talent which they’ve showcased and without a doubt have more riffs and genre laying sounds you’ve had cooked dinners.
(4 / 5)
