EP Review: One Day As A Lion

What do you get when you mix one Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine with The Mars Volta's Jon Theodore? You get One Day As A Lion. While I was never a huge fan of Rage or Mars Volta, I do respect Zach's raps as I appreciate the experimentalism of The Mars Volta. Picking up this EP I didn't really know what to expect, but in retrospect I got exactly what someone would expect from the two: some great lyrics, but repetitive and noisy music.


The five-song EP opens with "Wild International" which wastes little time, getting political from the get-go. The song appears to be the fan favorite, and it's understandable with such a memorable chorus. Outside of the chorus though, the song is lacking much of a message and the beats are not all there.

The second track "Ocean View" seems to be a little more influenced by Theodore with its unstructured beats and the groan of a distorted guitar humming through the entire song. Much like "Wild International," this song has a memorable chorus both lyrically and musically.

Ocean of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down
Ocean of past crimes now fill our hearts to tear them down

Track four, "If You Fear Dying," again accents Zach's poetic raps, discussing (obviously) the fear of dying. This song, more than the others, gets quite repetitive relying solely on Zach's rap while the music is just a background noise.

Overall I'd recommend the band to any Zach De La Rocha or Rage Against The Machine fan. If you don't like Rage however, I doubt you'll appreciate this band and find the music and beats rather repetitive.

One Day As A Lion: Wild International

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