Palms is the closest thing to a hard rock super-group that currently exists. Three members of Isis teamed up with Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno to create a beautiful record that melds Isis’s signature post-metal sound with a heavy dose of power rock all held together by Moreno’s always great vocal work.

Clocking in at 47 minutes long and only six songs, Palms manages to avoid the trap that many bands with long songs fall into with unnecessarily repetitive chords and loops, instead managing to come up with incredibly riveting music. Songs like “Shortwave Radio” emote on every note without overpowering anything. Moreno’s vocals add a dimension of raw emotion to the stellar backing sound of every track.

Palms has a marvelous flow and feels like a new high in the sheer artistry that metal influenced music can uncover. It is incredibly difficult to translate just what Palms is reaching for without using completely ridiculous imagery that will read like abstract babble. Everything on this record is sonically lush, and even though it is technically six songs, the album begs to be spun from end-to-end to illustrate the whole range of beauty and emotion that Palms has managed to create. In the end, Palms is more than an album. It is an expansive sonic experience.

(Ipecac Recordings, PO Box 1778 Orinda, CA 94563)