CROSSES

Permanent.Radiant (Warner)

Not being too familiar with previous Crosses (†††) releases, though certainly with singer Chino Moreno of Deftones, I went into Permanent.Radiant with curiosity, and came out even more so. Crosses is the result of a collaboration between Moreno, Far’s Shaun Lopez and, until recently, Chuck Doom; a fractured relationship between the former two and the latter bassist seems to explain why there was a gap of six years between their last three EPs and this new album.

Speaking to Kerrang! about the break-up, Lopez is brutally honest about his and Moreno’s trepidation as a duo: “I wasn’t feeling very confident. If you’re making a fucking soup and you don’t have no pepper, it’s gonna be a different thing, right? It might not be as good.” If they still weren’t feeling confident in the studio, Sensation, first track of six here, blows those worries away: gloomy goth-rock with a thrusting electronic edge that would soundtrack an Underworld film perfectly. Personally, I could have done with even more heft, though.

Vivien continues this streak and has more than a touch of 30 Seconds To Mars – should you find that comparison favourable (Jared “Damaged” Leto aside). This energy tapers off somewhat as the record continues, with middle song Day One feeling altogether out of place. Holier ends things on a high, however, musically and thematically sealing Permanent.Radiant’s arc from darkness to lightness, out of the ashes and into the sun, more than capable as a two-man band.

words HANNAH COLLINS