As a blood curdling scream and the mayhem of a screeching guitar fades and is replaced by a soft guitar that floats in the air like feather, catchy and very melodic vocals come in, before power-bombing back into heavier sounds. This music swoops and sores like a eagle and then just as the mouse pokes its head out its hole, it strikes, its destructive, emotional yet beautiful. Its El Cielo.
Track 1 is Gwai Lo, it starts with a blast of energy and both the dynamics and mix in the guitars is really nice. The vocals are so diverse from the very beginning, switching like the guitars from nice melodic and clear notes, to a screaming rant with apparent ease. The way that El Cielo move there music reminds me of Hundred Reasons. But El Cielo have a more 90’s grunge feeling to their sound. Gwai Lo is a very good start to this E.P and moves at a fast pace, building steadily until it becomes an emotion charged battering ram. Even though it is a short song it is a great opening and puts the listener into a hyper mood, ready for the next onslaught.
The Tree is the second song, starting with a really nice riff that breaks down into a funky little hook as the vocals come in. The guitar sound echoes with a bit of Pitchshifter, but maybe a bit softer and the vocal is very smooth this time with a Eddie Vedder sort of feel. The lyrics are very catchy on this tune and the music moves up and down nicely like a kiddies roller coaster, it puts you through a whole list of emotions. There is a clever break in the middle, the recording is really well mixed with all instruments running into each other like a giant artists palette, it merges so well and El Cielos music paints a great picture.
Third track Deity starts with a heavy riff making me think this could be a revisit of the first song, but this time its calm, melodic vocals that come in with a slight 80’s influence, and some really nice bass and drum lines. The vocals again, mix their melodic floating with sharp blunt screams but the frontman times his screams and all the dynamics so well, they sound like one big instrument. Their music mixes the funky soft emotional rock of the 90’s grunge era, with the more modern emo sound. It is emotion charged and at times angry and passionate but also has a soft side. This E.P shows a band with a lot to offer.
Final track Tears, mixes up all the elements that the previous tracks have shown. It has soft, melodic moments and emotional angry moments, the music builds and swoops, ducks and dives and once more. Its a very tight song with catchy lyrics and a great melody. I think I like this song most.
El Cielo are musical very tight and very well worked. If you liked bands like Creed, Pearl Jam and Nirvana or maybe like modern emo, you are bound to enjoy El Cielos music. I just feel that with the amount of talent they have as musicians, they could still push a few more boundaries. There is still room for them to expand and grow. This music could be on the radio tomorrow, then again they could become a forgotten band sounding a bit too similar the whats around at the moment. It will be interesting to see where El Cielo take this sound.
Overall (3 / 5)
Review by Gaz
