Team Sleep

With 2005's TEAM SLEEP, Deftones frontman Chino Moreno made good on his promise to take time off from his main outfit to record a new project. Deftones fans may be surprised at the nature of the album, however. While TEAM SLEEP bears traces of the Deftones' dark intensity, and the record is full of expansive, sometimes roaring guitar, it is not a standard heavy-rock outing. Instead Moreno has created an album of moody, atmospheric music that includes electronic programming, fluid guitars, and dreamy, down-tempo compositions.
In large part, the success of TEAM SLEEP can be attributed to a shifting cast of musicians, producers, and mixers. The crossfire of Moreno's impassioned vocals with guitars, bass, drums, turntables, and keyboards has clearly been honed to a dense, gleaming sheen, giving the record a deep, gorgeously textured feel. The cuts that feature Helium vocalist Mary Timony--"King Diamond" and "Tomb of Liegia" (the latter an eerie murder ballad)--are two the album's finest. Moreno still achieves a crushing sonic grandeur on guitar-dominated tracks ("Your Skull Is Red"), but floating, electronics-laced songs like "Ever (Foreign Flag)" truly make TEAM SLEEP a fresh, original offering.