Puscifer: "C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference HERE) EP

No, that isn't us wielding our censoring hatchet, that's the actual title of this one. Now, you'd be forgiven as a Tool fan for unintentionally overlooking Puscifer, the quieter side-project from front-man Maynard Keenan. 

With little to no publicity or promotion surrounding his 2007 solo début (the lovingly titled "V" Is For Vagina) the man's new material was a shock to the system, abandoning the prog-metal of his primary musical output and adopting an ambient, lustful trip-hop persona that sounded alien and yet somehow perfectly suited to the peculiar Californian. After a "V" Is For Viagra remix album and a "D" Is For Dubby re-imagining by Welsh ambient-master Lustmord, Keenan is ready to drop a true successor to the début record in the form of this download-only E.P under scrutiny here.

Six songs deep and just under thirty minutes in length, "C" Is For (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference HERE) is another progressive leap forward for the man and a further solidification of his presence in the music industry. Though it's brief in length; sonically there's a huge variety of meshed sounds and intentions that mostly work and only occasionally stumble. Introductory track 'Polar Bear' immediately paints a dark, moody picture across an electronic canvas and it's within this territory that most of the E.P resides. Keenan's echoed, sensual, crooning vocals drifts atop a slow-burning first-half before industrial, metallic percussion explodes to life for the last-half stretch. Lyrically it's relatively simplistic, ruminating on abandonment and loneliness with the metaphor of a singular polar bear lost in the Arctic but it's more his tone and gentle inflections which create the song's addictive, melancholic aura.

Surprisingly, Milla Jovovich (also currently filming the fourth successive Resident Evil movie for us all to ignore) has a guest vocal spot on track two 'The Mission 'M Is For Milla Mix'' and it's probably the one track most likely to split fans down the middle.  It's a brash, stomping, lyric-swapping blast of darkly catchy melodies that misfires mostly because of Milla's Marmite vocal-punch. She's not a terrible singer and she's obviously a confident musician but hearing her next to Keenan is immediately polarising and off-putting, like owning a wild wolf and a cute bunny at the same time. Whether it's to your tastes or not depends on how forgiving you are but there's actually a decent, if forgettable, song tucked away in here somewhere.

The two middle-EP live songs ('Momma Sed' and 'Vagina Mine') are probably worth the download fee alone and exude an intensely deep and thick audible atmosphere fit with echoed, barely audible guitar chords, backing sighs, ominous bass-lines, twitchy drums and a fair amount of explicit lyricism. It's testament to how authentic Keenan can replicate his sound on stage and has us cursing at the fact that he's yet to visit the UK under the Puscifer moniker.

If you're still not content with three highlights and one filler then you've got the lucid, synthy, Trent Reznor featuring 'Potions 'Deliverance Mix" that expands in detail with every successive listen and finally album closer 'The Humbling River'. Meandering guitar's entwine gently behind Keenan's soft, earnest vocals before being joined by another female vocalist and luckily this time, she has nothing to with the Umbrella Corporation. It's a great ending, a welcome addition and could sit well next to some of A Perfect Circle's slower material.

There are moments of greatness, long, twisting roads of all round goodness and a few cracks in the pavement too but it's a great continuation of an already prestigious artist growing into his solo sound. That and a lot more vagina references!