Deftones show us why no one can sound, make music or create an experience like them. This is one of their best works ever-without a doubt.
I don’t say this often, but we’re SO back. Deftones have returned after their longest break away from making music-so they made it worth it. Their latest, private music, might be one of their best in terms of how they have matured into making their compositions truly their own. From the moment Around the Fur hit-you could identify them from probably the first note. You’re engulfed in the high tide now.
As a younger metal music fan- I could appreciate this collective at surface level. They had some definitive riffs, and their music was clumped with the likes of Limp Bizkit as part of the nu-metal movement. Sonically, they were way ahead-exploring the space between deafening drop tuning riffs. With Chino Moreno’s signature vocals, Stephen Carpenters gargantuan riffs and brain tangling maths, Abe Cunningham’s crisp drumming and Chi Cheng’s bouncing bass lines-they seemed unstoppable. From the moment they got their label signing; you could see them wreaking all kinds of havoc outside the music world.
Bringing parts of themselves
Whether it be personal demons to fight, or the substance abuse-most of the members had their parts of feeling down. Did it reflect in their music? It better, if it’s an extension of you. Not discounting that, Deftones still brought something fresh to their performances. All barring Gore, I didn’t like that album.
So when you get back to the band after 5 years and the first track is called my mind is a mountain-you empathise with that. From the chugging delivery to Chino’s voice being heard after such a long time-it’s a homecoming for sure. Brilliantly strong in its delivery-and powerfully emphasising how well the band understands the groove. No flashy antics, no solos to take over entire sections. The way we heard it in Ohms, you see the rhythm section binding to become one juggernaut that can change the entire aesthetic of the song.
Galloping through the album
Personally, I loved the galloping drum section and movement of locked club. That trapped feeling is evident in how Chino sings and how dynamic his vocals have grown to become. He sings what the melodies make him feel-and doesn’t shy away from it turning ugly. The industrial opening of ecdysis has a nasty bassline-converting eventually into the guitar riff. I found myself immediately run to my guitar which was catching rust and figure out the riff for this. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have strings, but you know who does? Stephen Carpenter.
As expected, Deftones own the space they create-no matter how heavy it is. Why I love this song is how it so effortlessly bleeds into infinite source. This is the a-la-carte pairing that I will listen to on repeat for many months to come. From the despair and angst you feel in ecdysis-it is vacuumed into a cocoon of joy in the next track. I don’t even want to call it joy-perhaps hope is a better term. From chord changes that will make you float to Chino’s signature soft vocals-it just falls together like a dream. The climb of souvenir is more of a plateau, but perhaps that’s the purpose of the song.
The play with sonics and depth
Longer and for consideration, it is dependent on the sonics in the background and Moreno’s vocals. Why does it help to listen to something that might sound a bit too much of an extension? You’re experiencing rage and distortion from Chino in cXz, with some great spatial movement. As guttural and powerful it is with its single note riff and sinister bend-they’re able to capture that leaping movement in their music just like you’re listening to White Pony. Another brilliant single that I love comes in next. I think about you all the time is one of the reasons that Deftones will always be set apart. Constructed like a ballad and executed like an exhausting farewell, it bleeds with memory and purpose. When the instrumentals come in-they’re given due consideration.
Is it for Chi? Some other memory that lives within the writer’s mind? Not for us to delve on more than what the result of the song has been. From the heavy, crushing instrumentals-this served like a soft memory to me for Brent Hicks of Mastodon as well. When I heard of his passing in the morning-the song was incidentally the one I had just finished listening to. Rest In Peace, brave one.
Heavy, but heartfelt
The other single that was released was milk of the madonna. Like I said-the way the songs flow into each other shows how good these compositions really are. We’re in a theme that is in the fold of the mind. You follow that crease till you find your wrinkle in time. That’s why Deftones stand out as this beast of burden-saving so many people’s lives with their music. There’s no doubting it.
As I reach the end of the album and experience metal dream and departing the body– I feel the meditation to be over. It is more than therapeutic-what this album can do for you. If you’re not a Deftones fan and this is your first time here-you’re welcome. If this is what you waited for all these years, welcome back:
Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
