PRESS REVIEWS

DEFTONES - "Deftones" Reviews

RATING: 8

THE NEWS RECORD

ALL MUSIC GUIDE

SCORE: 3 stars

RTE INTERACTIVE

SCORE: 3 stars out of 5

STAR TRIBUNE

IOWA STATE DAILY

Evolving naturally from White Pony, the Deftones' self-titled new album shows the band's ability to experiment while still staying distinctly metal. Although this album is their most cohesive work to date, it has nothing that jumps out as an obvious single, but the Deftones have never been concerned with writing hit singles, and instead find their sound through experimentation. What Radiohead has done for rock is what the Deftones are beginning to do for metal. They steer from mainstream sounds--perpetually pushing boundaries. The Deftones try to change perceptions of how a metal song should sound. Like Radiohead, they also have been influential within their genre, if bands like Chevelle and Taproot are any indication. On the opening track, "Hexagram," the band seems intent on throwing the listener off with tricky time signatures, forcing careful listening. Vocalist Chino Moreno barrages you with guttural screams and then effortlessly slips into a sing-song moan. Like Kurt Cobain, Moreno soulfully wrenches out abstract and mysterious lyrics, with enough passion to make you believe every word. His melodies are keyless and ever-changing, suggesting he doesn't want you to sing along, but rather listen closely. This is music that refuses to be put in the background. "Deftones" has the potential to draw in new fans, without alienating those who have always been. On songs like the grandiose "Minerva," Stephen Carpenter's dense, dissonant guitar implements are as ugly as they are beautiful and Abe Cunningham reminds us he is one of the most creative drummers in rock. Although the album is guitar-based, tracks like the Portishead-esque "Lucky You" and the new-wave inspired "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event" show the band's ability to create rich tracks. Although this album is not perfect (tracks like "Bloody Cape" get repetitive), "Deftones" proves that metal can be both intelligent and artistic. The Deftones' new effort is a raw, emotional composition that dares you to shut up and listen.

SCORE: 8/10

EYE WEEKLY

Like Metallica for the cool kids, Sacramento's Deftones manage to make incredibly creative, heavvvvvvy music year after year without compromise, amassing their legion of fans through touring rather than hype. But then 2000's White Pony had a wee radio hit with "Change (in the House of Flies)." So does this self-titled follow-up make a play for the charts? Thankfully, no. The first single, "Minerva," is a beautiful thing, a melodic and mellifluous ode to the muse, but it's hardly "Unforgiven." With one sad exception (the NIN-esque "Lucky You," from The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack), Deftones have stayed the course with intense guitar washes that create not a wall of sound so much as a whole world, with slow, rolling rhythms and Chino Moreno's whisper-to-a-scream-and-all-shades-in-between vocals (but, like White Pony, no rapping!). Pure emotion, set to stun. As Moreno screeches in the fast and furious opener "Hexagram," I suggest you play and worship.

SCORE: 4 stars out of 5

THE ADVERTISER

As the genre of metal rapidly shrinks and becomes increasingly stylised, it's refreshing to know the Deftones will be there, pushing the boundaries and testing the waters. This fourth album from the Sacramento, California, quintet – and the follow-up to 2000's White Pony – is an important leap forward, not just for the band, but for metal in general. The Deftones are transformed, leaving nu-metal behind for more emotional territory. There is still the requisite brutality, the hard guitars, the big noise, but there are moments that will send chills down your spine. This is metal that crushes, then soothes. Singer Chino Moreno's vocals are a contradiction – he can be strangely soothing and sensual when he's not screaming his lungs out. Add those to the atmospheric riffs, the melodramatic power chords, the rapturous highs and depressing lows, and this self-titled release shows a band just beginning to find its place in the world. They've been hailed the "metal Radiohead" for their unabashed innovation, and few would argue with that. Even the straightforward metal tracks stand out from the crowd. Take first single Minerva – a very Beautiful Sharks-era Something For Kate riff jangles away before the rest of the band kicks in with a wall of guitars, a breathtaking introduction to the world of the Deftones. Then there's the other side; the experiments with mood and atmospherics. Lucky You – as heard on the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack, so that should give an indication of what we're dealing with here – is a seductively sexy doomscape worthy of approval from the Aphex Twin. As a bonus for fans, the packaging includes a 20-page colour booklet and enhanced CD with 20 minutes of exclusive studio footage, a day in the life of each band member and 150 candid photos. These Deftones take the gloomy lyrics of Robert Smith, distilled through Radiohead's grandeur, transforming its music into emotional, moody metal that doesn't need to scream at you to make its point.

SCORE: 4,5 stars out of 5

NEW YORK NEWSDAY

The Deftones have never gotten the respect they deserve. Sure, they don't have the jagged peculiarities of Queens of the Stone Age, the math rock rhythm experiments of System of a Down or even the unstoppable hooks of Korn. That doesn't mean they are any less adventurous. With their fourth album "Deftones" (Maverick), the Sacramento nu-metal rockers may have finally crafted a masterpiece that cannot be ignored. The first single "Minerva" sounds enormous, with guitarist Stephen Carpenter meticulously building a wall of riffs that Chino Moreno's unusually underplayed vocals can strut around, creating a melody that unfolds like the rising sun. It's an anthem that will sound amazing when The Deftones play packed stadiums with Metallica and Linkin Park this summer. On "Needles and Pins," The Deftones alternate between gorgeous exasperation and triumphant power chords, while the powerful "Battleaxe" sounds like a weird teaming of Linkin Park and My Bloody Valentine. The impressively spare "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event" shows how much Moreno's singing style - altered after going through therapy for a temporarily paralyzed vocal cord - has grown since the "White Pony" album. The artistic stretches are welcome, but band hasn't left its "dense rock" sound behind completely. The tortured "When Girls Telephone Boys" features Moreno at his most theatric, shrieking and wailing over a cascade of guitars. "Good Morning Beautiful" features layers of percussion and an oddly sunny disposition that sounds like the Smashing Pumpkins in their "Gish" days. "Deftones" shows how a solid band can take its music to the next level if it is willing to soak in new influences and take a few new risks.

GRADE: A

DIGITAL NOISE

The Deftones, who need no formal introduction, have finally put out their fourth studio effort, a self-titled album. Amidst constant rumors, side-projects, and lots of past struggles with alcohol and drugs that has been seen by fans across the globe, they still manage to make amazing music. The only act I can think of that endured as much as these men have and managed to put out four amazing records in their time is Faith No More. Very few others can claim to have done what they have done. With recording having taken place over the past year and constant push backs on release dates, this Terry Date produced album has finally seen the streets. Supporting the album currently by doing their small club tour, they've managed to get enough hype around this album that it's surely going to be going platinum within no time at all. It's been a long while since a big release like this has been talked about for so long and. And all the hype, hysteria and talk has been backed up-this is their best record to date. It's as if they took everything they had ever learned, had ever experienced, and put it into this record. A lot of people have commented that it sounds like an eclectic mix of all three records-which is true, but doesn't do it enough justice. There's a few tracks that sound like tracks off of Around The Fur, a few that sound like White Pony-era tracks or even music that Team Sleep would have recorded, and even a few that kick enough massive ass to be considered classic-era Deftones music. But the overall cutting edge that you experience with this album, was not achieved with any of their other outings. Starting off with a fast-paced, hard hitting rock anthem “Hexagram,” the track then leads into the guitar-laden “Needles and Pins.” The transitions from song to song here are just absolutely amazing. Terry and the band put every effort into making this flow excellently from song to song. Track-ordering, in my opinion, is a very overlooked art. Can you imagine what Lateralus would have sounded like, if Tool had started off with their single or one of the latter tracks of the album? With that being said, they managed to put every track in just the right spot. Perhaps the best part of this record is its mind-blowing production level-well, aside from the actual music. Terry Date could take anyone and make them sound so professionally polished and well rounded, it would almost be ridiculous. A lot of people have commented that they wish they'd find another producer and try a different approach to their music-and I think this record is just a slap in those people's faces. There's no one who could have worked with these men and created quite a near-perfect album as this is. Another important aspect of this album is the variety of moods it can put the listener in. From the moving, heavy, “Hexagram” and “Needles and Pins,” to the more mesmerizing and melodic tracks like “Deathblow,” and the electronic “Lucky You,” it has something for every time in your life. There's nothing lacking here… they really, really do make the “heavy parts heavier” and the “lighter parts lighter” like so many “metal” bands of today claim to be aiming to achieve with their next album. It's quite simple here, really-this knocks off Mit Gas by Tomahawk as the best release of 2003 thus far, and quite possibly would have taken that claim last year. The Deftones are here again, and if you get to catch them on their club tour, you're one of the lucky few. I managed to see them in St. Louis, and I must say, they are one of the most sincere, and amazing bands of today, that could still sell out any concert hall. Go buy this album. Get off your ass, log off the Internet, and do it.

SCORE: 9.7 out of 10

FSU NEWS

For being one the creators of a genre that would be replicated infectiously by tools from the year 1995 to present, Deftones still manages to sound like the only one of these groups that makes records for itself. A self-proclaimed Cure fan, frontman Chino Moreno and his unconventional-looking band mates probably derail their fans with every release. Case and point: Moreno cheering, "God bless you all" in the unusually melodic chorus of the group's first single, "Minerva." With 2000's White Pony laying the groundwork for a complete mutiny from modern rock -- and still the band's most creative effort -- Deftones began slowly alienating all of its sideways ball-capped worshippers. Not because the members wanted to, but because their interest in music is deeper than just wearing clown makeup and songs about "rolling." Granted, Deftones still has a long way to go before it realizes that sometimes less is more (like less wall of guitar and more creepiness). What are missing from the band's forth release are holes, moments when the standard sonic tour de force offered in the majority of its songs drops to the background and the group works with atmosphere. Nine of the 11 tracks on Deftones either start with 10 bazillion guitars blazing or jump to them with blow-up choruses. Its absurd overproduction can be credited to producer Terry Date (who has worked on every Deftones records) and the band recording on its own time in its own studio. Unlike any good elementary art-school teacher, Date forgot to take away the picture before the kids could drown it in excessive paint. This is a problem and forces the generic attributes of that aforementioned genre to bleed over everything non-generic about Deftones. Though the sludge is pumping, "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event," a big, gloomy, piano driven song sounds like nothing Deftones has ever created. With this homage to the Cure's Disintegration, the band must lose a few fans (though it's the best track on the album). "Lucky You" reminds us that DJ Frank Delgado is still around, though it's strangely obvious that he's been cranking Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine way too often. Songs like these, regardless of whether they are good or bad, give nu metal the finger. It's too bad the Deftones members still think they have to be tough, because their slower, sadder, darker music seems to outweigh their pure aggression. With time, maybe Deftones will come out of its goth closet and ask Robert Smith to join. Now this would officially rid it of all its fans.

GRADE: B

DAILY NEXUS

When bands play hard and heavy, they always take the risk of thrumming out agonizingly slow, as if they were attempting to gorge John Madden's Thanksgiving Day turkey doused in 54 gallons of slop-gravy. Imagine squeezing that banquet into 47:14 minutes and you get the Deftones self-titled and fourth Maverick release. Scheisse! I thought I just woke up from a coma in the middle of a nuclear holocaust after rubbing the crusties out of my blistered eyes. Maybe I just rolled off the coach from a night of binge drinking downtown? Somebody throw me a bone. These guys have the capacity of turning a splitting headache into a brain surgery session hosted by Captain Insano. The latest release from the Sacramento quintet is a distant reach from the brusquer and more focused Around the Fur (1997) or even the critics' teddy bear White Pony (2000). The strongest song this ensemble put together, "Teething," emanated from "The Crow: City of Angels" soundtrack in 1996. Though Deftones rocks at times (as metal bands do), I can't help but feel that if a baseball bat had just bashed against my head, hovering mini-Chino Morenos would wail away around my head instead of chirping Tweety Birds. Moreno's grimy and soaring wail slightly distinguishes the Deftones from the rest of the headbanging herd. Yet, Moreno's and Stephen Carpenter's guitars sound limp. Abe Cunningham should stick to playing the kettle - I hear they need a drummer boy out in Iraq. Bassist Chi Cheng sounds like he'd rather be playing foosball with PelŽ's dad. The rest of the band should stick to picking their noses and munching sunflower seeds in the studio, because that's what they're pros at. If Deftones droned on for one minute longer, I would have made love to a cactus. Ouch. [Eliav Appelbaum gets points for not referring to this band as the "Deaf tones"! Hah! Good one.]

DETROIT NEWS

Without context, rage isn't all that interesting an emotion. That's the reason the empty screams of most nu-metal bands fall on deaf ears, and it's the reason most teen-agers are boring. There's a lot more to rage than vocal-shredding and standoffish disillusionment, and its release is more complicated than just making a bunch of noise. Sacramento's Deftones have always explored the emotional complexity of rage, peeling back the layers of not only its brutality, but its beauty. Nowhere was this done better than on 2000's "White Pony," which was something of the "Doctor Zhivago" of nu-metal -- cool, melodic and epic in scope. Now comes the self-titled "Deftones," which is slightly more aggressive than "White Pony" but similarly enamored with the feeling behind the explosions of rage that color the disc. "Deftones" is pitch black in spots -- try "When Girls Telephone Boys" or "Bloody Cape" -- but the Deftones' inherent artiness renders those cuts above standard nu-metal screamers. When he's not stabbing shards of broken glass into his vocal chords, frontman Chino Moreno's voice soars, like on the sparse "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event" and the gorgeous lead single "Minerva." Both showcase the Deftones' range, and the band's courage to aim beyond their genre's confinements. It's that bravery that sets the Deftones apart from the rest of its genre, and its understanding that rage is only honest and believable when it's delivered not from the gut, but from the heart.

GRADE: A-

DALLAS MUSIC GUIDE

The Deftones have now pulled off the impossible; they have become two bands within one body. There remains the bombastic, wailing powerhouse and then there’s the new look, spacey model that floats in the world of gentle swirling atmospherics and lush vocals, both with precision and dripping wet with sincere emotion. Opener “Hexagram” is an off-kilter guitar jangle at the outset but moves into their usual open wound primal scream as Chino Moreno’s pleading vocals bounce off drummer Abe Cunningham and guitarist Stephen Carpenter’s drill press playing. The heavy as nails “Needles & Pins” finds Moreno’s buried, breathy voice lull you somewhere between suicide and sleep. Moreno’s lyrics are bewildering at best but he does possess the ability to take words, any words, and wring and twist them until they mean something to someone. The playing on this track is exceptional, if not underplayed, as a loop is the centerpiece of the instrumentation, allowing the south of sanity vocals to take control. First single “Minerva” is a somber-toned piece that hits the dynamics at full speed. Once again Moreno’s pleas and statements that make up the chorus “well god bless you all, for the song you sing, for the heart you break, every time you fall” are almost gothic in feel but arm waving in emotion; it is a slow crawling monster that just soars. The Fugazi-ish “Deathblow” finds the band hitting somewhat familiar, but ultimately different territory as the verse is a muted ring, complete with Chi Cheng’s throbbing bass and atmosphere engineer Frank Delgado sending cylinders off into the black air. One misstep with “When Girls Telephone Boys” as the riffs are recycled from past albums and Chino’s raspy screams seems directionless. “Battle Axe” showcases Cunningham’s strong fills and is another 2/4 track that plods along following the path that the vocals lay down. It feels as though Moreno is trapped inside a dream and is trying to sing his way out, as his sleepy voice seeps into the song’s texture. “Lucky You” is where things get interesting as no doubt Moreno’s side project Team Sleep and its slight techno and dub influence replace guitars, bass and live drums. Similar to the menacing songs that graced Massive Attack’s Mezzanine, this is the world where The Deftones may someday progress. “Bloody Cape” takes the guitar intro of “Drive” from Around The Fur and plows it into the sexy drunkenness of the song. Known for his love of Absolut, Chino just sweats the stuff on the track, as it resembles what a “groggy rocker” would sound like. Stumbling at times, vicious at times, but always interesting to follow. “Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event” is a plaintive piece that is just beautiful. A haunting piano, church cymbals, and a distant guitar sway in the breeze as the vocals go in search of a love gone astray. This is the song for goodbye lovers, and the wish for one last kiss as the door closes. Heartbreaking, distraught and aching, a real love song full of passion and lust, and may very well is the band’s finest hour. Closer “Moana” couldn’t more concise with its yearning narrator falling over himself to get the words out as the bands usual skronk fills the space around. I had hoped that they wouldn’t have stretched this album for one more song as the prior would have been a fitting end, but it is a solid piece that nestles in firmly with the band’s catalogue. The Deftones are the only band from the class of 1994 that has consistently pushed themselves and have made strides to mature into their own voice. Gone are the days of one dimension, but not the power and emotion that ultimately drive the band. The Deftones isn’t so much a step ahead from 2000’s White Pony, but more a step to the side, as slight variations on their past parlor tricks are tweaked and given a new sheen. You won’t find “My Own Summer” or “Change (House of Flies)” here, but you will find a band that is both instantly recognizable, yet always developing.

rating: 7 out of 10

LONDON FREE PRESS

Most of the time, we have no idea what Chino Moreno is talking about. It's certainly not that we can't hear him -- the Deftones singer-guitarist can unleash a scream that would send shivers up Charlie Manson's spine. And it's not that we can't understand him -- even as he weeps, wails, gnashes his teeth and shreds his vocal cords like so much string cheese. It's that usually we just don't know what he means. This is not an insult. In fact, it's a compliment. To put it simply, Moreno, who is also the Deftones' chief lyricist, has a way with words. Next to all the nu-metal and rap-rock lunkheads urging their fans to break stuff, Moreno's lyrics are practically poetry -- abstract, intelligent, subtle and sometimes confoundingly enigmatic. For instance, "Paint the streets in white," he howls to open the band's new self-titled album. "Death is the standard breach for a complex prize, I think it's sweet of you and your parents are proud, But I would expect it from anyone now to protect life's indigenous sound . . . " Clearly, this is a guy with more on his mind than scoring drugs and supermodels. This is probably a big part of the reason why the California quintet -- Moreno, guitarist Stephen Carpenter, drummer Abe Cunningham, bassist Chi Cheng and turntablist/keyboard player Frank Delgado -- have amassed such a fervent following with just four albums under their belt (including the 2000 breakthrough disc White Pony). But there is also another basis for that bond: The Deftones' lyrical passion and intelligence are matched by their music. Bands will always tell you their latest record is their most adventurous and exciting creation yet. But in this case, the statement isn't just hype. These 11 massively heavy, challengingly inventive tracks showcase a band pushing its musical boundaries further than it ever has before. Hexagram, the song we quoted earlier, moves from a pummelling metal waltz into a chorus of grinding staccato guitars and tug-of-war vocals barking, "worship, play, worship, play." Needles and Pins constructs a circular wall of churning, overdriven axes and offers an invitation to "fall in love with sound." Minerva is a passionate nuclear-powered ballad whose melodic layers, soaring vocals and dynamic tension wouldn't have been out of place on an early Smashing Pumpkins disc. Others songs find the band arc-welding together elements from virtually the entire spectrum of heavy music -- punk, hardcore, metal, thrash, goth, hip-hop, nu-metal, funk, what have you -- to forge the foundation for its artful and ambitiously hybrid works. Some, such as the searing When Girls Telephone Boys, are relentlessly aggressive and blisteringly cathartic, with Carpenter slashing away at his guitar, Cunningham and Cheng laying down poundingly heavy-handed, yet intricately supple, midtempo rhythms and Moreno spitting seething hatred or blaring away. Others, such as Lucky You, are almost ambient dreamscapes, with minimalist grooves, electronic scribbles and gloomy vocals. Virtually all of them find ways to avoid the detuned rubber-legged guitars, overused hip-hop beats, obvious depth-charge bases and monotonous vocals that have become the cliche sounds of a million nu-metal and rap-rock soundalikes. And even if we don't know what Moreno means by lines such as, "No more gold lights for the queen earth to keep you warm in your kingdoms," so what? We know he means every word of it. Which is more than we can say for most of his competitors.

DROWNED IN SOUND

The instant urgency of an unrestrained debut. The tailored fadingspark of a great successor. The relaxed rationale of a more timid third. A likely story - a fashion seen umpteen times previously. Naturally followed by the crises-riddled backlashing #4 – they thought they were getting old; they’ve got something to prove. In a way this is an alternative third album in that they took their natural path of oft-mild, electronic-tinged metal with ‘White Pony’, taking some easy time and sedating somewhat. Now, however, they are stunning the stereos with metal – unrelenting as ever but with a perspective of men who have seen it and learnt. The releases of seethingly vicious, vehement ardour are unnecessary now – and indeed it could be said that Deftones are better off without the scREAMing. Love was often the theme of their songs and this has not changed but is just exhibited as contented restraint of happiness, as opposed to a display of unreserved, wounded passion. The immediate highlights on this album come early and often and instant gratification is all well and good but I want a girlfriend – not some floozy skinny bitch that’ll steal my wallet on the way out in the morning. And the fucking toaster, for crying out loud. I want to love this album. I want a record that’s gonna comfort me in my time of need. I want a group of men that are gonna get me hard for at least 10 years. If the spark goes then, there are things you can do to fire it all up again. It’s proven. Mr. Chino Moreno has decided to punctuate frequently his quantity of bellowed soaring moans with those anguishing scREAMs we have come to appreciate fondly. However, it seems unnecessary and oft strained. Expansion of the increased electrobangbang of the ‘Back to School’ EP was always on the cards and is seen again to considerable effect in the unnervingly relaxed ‘Needles and Pins’ and the more anxious 80s electro-influenced ‘Lucky You’. This is almost becoming intelligent metal. It seems as if Deftones are trying to push their musical boundaries. ‘Bloody Cape’ sees a craving for redemption strewn over splintering riff and melancholy melody that finishes with that cathartic scREECHing. Again. It probably could’ve done without it. Ditties like the single ‘Minerva’ and opening stormer ‘Hexagram’ will come to be classics in the vein of ‘Be Quiet & Drive’ due to vast, if not excessive, similarities in structure, sound, tune, everything… Always weaker on record than in their live arena, Deftones had everything to prove – especially to themselves. Everyone else knew they were capable of those sweaty, gargantuan-proportioned dynamics; embargoed predictability; vast, cyclic grooves; all toppled by lush production, fresh from a Californian meadow of metal. It’s all been seen before, but in fragments. ‘Around the Fur’ is arguably their finest work to date, and whether this opus can exceed their magnum is questionable, if not unlikely, if not never gonna happen darlin’.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The intense, distorted riffs of the Deftones' self-titled release is a soundtrack befitting any headbanger's ball and music to keep out of the hands of those with poor anger-management skills. With song titles like Death Blow, Battleaxe and Bloody Cape, the follow-up to White Pony, which won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2000, is an audio assault guaranteed to turn timid hands into fists. Even the songs that sound in title to be tame, such as When Girls Call Boys, carry an infectious riff-driven chorus. The album isn't entirely the crunch of guitar. The vocals on Lucky You are recorded over the scratch of turn tables - it's hardly a thrash metal sound. And Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event remains free from screaming lyrics. Metal fans have waited nearly three years for the release. And although a few tracks on the album are uncharacteristically soft for the California-based band, it's doubtful they'll find their wait in vain after hearing it. The songs here sound best with the volume turned up.

grade: B

SACRAMENTO BEE

The Deftones show off their range of influence on their self-titled album, which is the Sacramento group's fourth. The cover of the new Deftones CD is fashioned with a giant skull surrounded by roses. An oversize yin-yang symbol would've done the trick as well. That's because Sacramento's Deftones thrive in a musical world of polar opposites where torrential guitar and vocals can coexist with softer, soothing textures. Such kinds of terraced dynamics are fairly standard in hard-rock circles, but when it comes to mixing moods and intensities, few do it better than the local group. With its self-titled "Deftones," the group's fourth album, the band hasn't so much stretched the limits of its sound as it has sharpened its definitions. The Deftones' harder side has become even more furious, as heard in the annihilating opening track, "Hexagram," while "When Girls Telephone Boys" thunders with discordant guitar and a punishing vocal from frontman Chino Moreno. Meanwhile, piano and swelling cymbals greet "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event," and "Lucky You" slinks with programmed drum loops and ominous synthesizer stylings. In lesser hands, such a blend could be a recipe for disaster. But one driving factor behind the Deftones' multifaceted sound is their range of influences, which veers from Meshuggah's maniacal metal to the white-noise visions from the Cure's "Pornography." It's a glorious noise when all of these factors coalesce, as they do on "Minerva," the new CD's hit single. With melodic, slow-motion vocals and a 10-ton guitar assault, the apocalypse never sounded so darn pretty. Credit should be given to Frank Delgado, the Deftones' DJ and keyboardist. While most DJs in hard-rock bands act as little more than props, or simply add scattered bits of scratching among the din, Delgado mines more musical territory. Much of the album's subtlety hinges on Delgado's soundscapes, such as his synthesizer patches that forge the somber tone in "Deathblow." All said, "Deftones" thrashes outwardly, but a heavy heart lies within. Coupled with some supercharged performances, especially Abe Cunningham's all-out drum attack, the Deftones continue to forge heavy metal into its own unique shape.

score: 3,5 stars out of 5

BILLBOARD

Savvy alt-metal workaholics the Deftones did not rush into recording the follow-up to their breakthrough Grammy Award-winning, 2000 platinum album, White Pony. Instead, they toured like mongrels, kept their mojo working, and took careful aim at the studio. The result, a self-titled set of 11 fresh cuts, keeps the Deftones' flag flying high. Frontman Chino Moreno sounds like a piano-wire victim on the opener "Needles & Pins" but can also do the dream vox thing on songs like the light-heavy "Death Blow." Meanwhile, mad axeman Stephen Carpenter delivers whir-and-hum or shoots comets from the speakers, depending on where the mood takes him. Check out the part-razor-wire, part-wrecking-ball of "Hexagram," the purgatory vibe of "Lucky You" (with Frank Delgado providing a blood-drip synth), and the ghost-ship closer "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event." Not quite as imaginative or diverse as White Pony but by no means flogging a dead horse.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Singer Chino Moreno sobs, swoons and shreds his tonsils with equal conviction, a one-man choir of voices. His band has the chops to keep up, with an attack that aims at blissing out listeners as much as bludgeoning them. "Death Blow" sounds like new-metal's answer to an Ennio Morricone spaghetti-western soundtrack, "Minerva" suggests My Bloody Valentine's plush guitar overdrive, and "Lucky You" flirts with the shadows in what sounds like an Aphex Twin remix. This is as ambitious a heavy rock album as we're likely to hear this year.

THE GUARDIAN ONLINE

Deftones' frontman Chino Moreno is something of an oddity within nu metal. His favourite band are Radiohead, he extols the virtues of the Cure, classical music, opera and Ornette Coleman, and his impassioned wallows from a gloomy place seem to come from somewhere deeper than the movement's usual angsty posturing. However, for much of the follow-up to 2000's unit-shifting White Pony, Deftones are no longer nu metal at all. Instead, Moreno leads the band into the textured, brooding territories mapped out by 1990s noiseniks such as God Machine and AR Kane. The twisted Lucky You borrows a drum motif from the Cure's Faith album and the most stunning (if atypical) moment, Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event, sees Moreno wailing hypnotically against a backdrop of lonely pianos and shimmering sound. It's a shame that they spend a good chunk of the album reverting to type, with walls of directionless guitar noise and bloodcurdling screaming. Presumably the risk of alienating their lucrative chains'n'spots audience altogether is an upset too far.

score: 3 out of 5

E! ONLINE

Over the course of the last few albums, Northern California's Deftones have earned a reputation as the Radiohead of the nu-metal world by pushing forward a genre (musically and lyrically) that's usually focused on complaining about your parents. And with the follow-up to 2000's White Pony, they're not about to stop. The guys are as grouchy as ever, wailing away on gothic whisper-to-a-scream songs like "Deathblow" and "Bloody Cape." First single "Minerva," meanwhile, sounds like the inbred cousin of the group's last hit "Change (In The House of Flies)," which still makes it miles better than most of the screammongers out there today. So, even if it all sounds pretty much the same as their last few, you'd be unwise to turn a deaf ear to this release.

GRADE: B

PLAYLOUDER

Cheese and pickle BAGUETTE, PLEEEEEEASE!!! Do you have the CORRECT TIME!!!
Yep, life must be pretty tough for Chino Moreno, cursed by warty pixies at the age of five and condemned to spend his entire adult life screaming. Possibly. Or maybe he just thinks screaming adds emphasis.
Nonsense. When it comes to Deftones, tunes always added emphasis. That's why the monumentally moving 'Back To School' and 'Change...' gave their last album, 'White Pony', such incredible promise. And it's why this album almost completely fails to deliver on that promise. When Chino's not screaming, he's generally busy turning 'Deftones' into 'Tonedef', improvising a series of randomly-pitched moans which seem never to have shared so much as a rehearsal room with their generic metal backing, let alone a chord sequence. It sounds like a dog howling over a Sepultura record. No, worse. It sounds like Fred Durst.
So why the three outta five? Well, it's 0.8 points for each of this album's gems, minus 0.4 points for thanking their local pizza parlour in the sleeve notes (so that's why Chino don't fit into his chinos no more). Those gems? They'd be the electro paranoia of 'Lucky You' ('Some Great Reward'-era Depeche Mode remixed by Colonel Kurtz); 'Bloody Cape', scintillated by a melody so yearning it sounds like Marilyn Manson pleasuring Morrissey; 'Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event' which is a) brilliantly titled and b) a Tears For Tears song (surely); and the single, 'Minerva' - 4AD in 2003AD, emotion powered by commotion. My very, very bloody valentine. A taste of what could have been, but resolutely isn't.
All over bar the shouting? If they don't bar the shouting it will be.

score: 50% out of 100%

CHARTATTACK

The masters of moody metal are back with their fourth release. This self-titled album makes a slight turn in the road away from their last record, the Grammy-winning White Pony. It isn't as creepy as the last, the band's lyrics are getting more poetic and they're still trying their hand at creating moods that aren't what you'd necessarily expect. From the dark and brooding "Battleaxe" to the outright sledgehammer of "When Girls Telephone Boys," this is yet another prize to add to their collection. Some might think of their "mellow" songs as pussy, but take a deeper look and you'll find they're trying to create something pretty incredible.
The best artists have that certain spark or otherworldly calling that sets them on a mission to create and complete a masterpiece of music. When did Sacramento, California's Deftones know it was the right time to nuture the spark that is their new record and release it onto the masses? "Uh, basically when it got done," laughs dread locked bassist Chi Cheng. "I’m not going to lie to you. Basically, we got around to finishing it going, ‘Oh thank God we got it done. Get it out!’" Their latest record (out now) is the follow-up to the platinum selling White Pony. It's been three years since that record was released and the band members spent their time after that whirlwind settling down and focusing on their personal lives. "Well, we toured on White Pony for at least a year, year and a half," explains Cheng. "Then we all went home and actually spent six months just being normal human beings and I think that was really necessary. We'd never really taken a break since being signed, so I think everyone just wanted to be normal for a little bit. Then we started to work on the new album and, ya know," he adds with a laugh, "typical Deftones album, it took a while. I mean, we always have the right impression of what we want to do and then what we actually do is something totally different." What the Deftones did, aside from throwing a song from the new record onto The Matrix: Reloaded soundtrack, was fill their new record with hard driving pieces like "Needles & Pins" and the hauntingly dark "Deathblow" and "Moana." Presently, the boys are in the midst of preparing for the cool Summer Sanitarium tour with Metallica and Linkin Park, but are attacking the smaller clubs before that hits. "We're doing these little club shows right now, which is really cool to play for our fans and remind them," says Cheng. "It's kind of a way of paying them back." He adds with a smile: "Except a lot of them can't get in cuz of their age but…"

PIMP ROCK PALACE

The Deftones are a band that many hold in high regard, even though they spawned from the once fertile nü-metal plains alongside their then peers of Korn, Limp Bizkit and the like. Undoubtedly the main reason they attained such a lofty status is directly attributed to the fact that they always stayed true to their roots and avoided the much easier commercial routes taken by their former associates. As such, this honest approach allowed them to forge a sound all their own that has brought them success on their own terms - no matter what direction they turn in. While their last outing "White Pony" was an ethereal journey through electronics and melody with a few massive eruptions, this latest offering instead draws parallels to 1997's "Around The Fur". Dark, brooding, claustrophobic and outright heavy in ways one would not expect; The band have successfully managed to merge their love of electronically augmented atmospheres with a style of deeply moving melodic metal that lacks nothing in the intensity department. Featuring some of their most complex and intricately layered material to date, the sound here is surprisingly fierce and will no doubt blow away many of the bands longtime fans who haven't seen this type of fury being unleashed since their formative years. As always though, an eerily romantic feel is still present in their music. Yes it is densely heavy and almost always suffocating, but band vocalist Chino Moreno still exudes a certain soft-hearted swagger that maintains an ever looming delicate aura - even past his enraged screams. Packed with some of their heaviest riffs to date, not to mention their most stunning amalgamation of electronics and bludgeoning aggression yet; "Deftones" is quite possibly the groups most mature and well rounded release thus far. Admittedly it might be a bit too clustered and tempered for some, but it still far too much of a beautifully brutal album for any fan of modern metal to be without. Brilliance as usual.

score: 4.5 out of 5

TISCALI MUSIC

With a sound that steadfastly defies any and all categories, ignited by the passionate commitment of five friends who have spent a lifetime working and playing together; and international acclaim that conclusively proves their boundary-crossing appeal, Deftones have been making music history since 1988, selling over three million tickets and four million albums in the process. That history now takes on a breathtaking new dimension with their fourth Maverick Records release, 'Deftones'. The immediate impact of that simple and unadorned title is underscored and amplified in its eleven stunning new original tracks. All the trademarks of the Deftones' potent and propulsive sound are here in abundance; from the fearless thrust of an audio assault that effortlessly mixes and matches a score of divergent influences, enveloping rock, soul, pure punk, metal and beyond, to ensemble playing of almost telepathic tightness. Includes the single 'Minerva'.

ALTERNATIVE PRESS

How panicky are the major labels over Kazaa and it's file-sharing brethren? Well, to prevent any pre-release leakage of the new Deftones album, Warner Bros. is at DEFCON 1, refusing to release any advance copies and spinning the CD only under tight security and its offices. Which is how this reviewer ended up sequestered in a conference room at WB HQ (with pen and paper only, no electronic devices allowed) to hear Deftones. It was a setup only John Ashcroft could love, but the chairs were comfy and the publicist offered pizza and bottled water - a far cry from the time when payola came in the form of crisp $100 bills and bags of blow. As far as the music, the album sounds like a million bucks. That is, it sounds like it cost a million bucks to produce Deftones is awash in the band's trademark giant grinding rifts, throbbing drums and sparkling atmospherics. Unfortunately, singer Chino Moreno, one of the more talented graduates of the Mike Patton school of extreme vocal dynamics, wants to sound like he's suffocating under his own self-loathing - but he's really drowning in the production mix. Terry Date is at the boards for the fourth time straight, and he doesn't let one damn hertz go to waste as he piles on the sound. This is an album made for studio monitors; I'll bet there are effects on it only your dog can hear. On the opener, "Hexagram", Moreno whispers and groans and whines as the bass drives the song, and then lets loose with his white-noise scream on the chorus just as the guitars crunch in. There's no mistaking it as anything but a Deftones song - and it's a solid one at that. But it's a bit predictable - and the same can be said about most of Deftones. The best songs here are the biggest departures. "Lucky You", which is headed for the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack, sounds like it could be that movie's score. With the guitars taking a backseat, turntableist Frank Delgado gets to flex, and he creates a futuristic almost-dance track, a bold update on the ambient grind of bands like Skinny Puppy and Massive Attack. And "Bloody Cape", complete with piano, chiming bells and minimal guitar, is -dare I say- pretty; and its relatively lightweight production makes it an oasis among the albums otherwise dense songs. I know it's sacrilege to say Deftones are at their best without their patented wall of guitar distortion, but after four very similar albums, they seem to be in danger of painting themselves into a corner. Deftones proves they've got the chops - and hints of desire- to break out and alter their sound. Maybe it's time to give Terry Date a holiday and let someone else capture their creativity.

score: 3 out of 5

BOSTON GLOBE ONLINE

The first track on the new Deftones album is a roaring introduction to the primal screams of singer Chino Moreno, who when he cuts loose sounds like a combination of John Lennon and Little Richard. ''Before I taught myself to sing, the screaming was the only way I knew how to express myself. The screaming became my trademark,'' says Moreno, on his tour bus before a recent sold-out show at Avalon. Moreno's leather-lunged vocals are well-known to rock fans. He regularly irritates his voice in concert with his booming display, but he's doing more exercises these days that limber up his voice so he's not as susceptible to pain. ''This is the third date of the tour,'' he said. ''And normally my voice would be hurting by this time, but it's not bad now.'' Moreno and his bandmates can blast out heavy rock with any group in the business, but they have also learned to expand their sonics on the new, self-titled ''Deftones'' CD, which comes out Tuesday. Moreno still hits rafter-raising heights on the songs ''Hexagram'' and ''When Girls Telephone Boys,'' but he steps back for quieter, more subtly expressive moments on love song ''Lucky You'' and the piano-tinged ''Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event.'' The result is a more musical Deftones that should reach a wider audience than even the millions who have already been captured by the Sacramento-based band, which returns to the Boston area to join Metallica's ''Summer Sanitarium Tour'' at Gillette Stadium on July 6 with Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. ''We don't stick to any formula,'' said Moreno, curled up on a leather couch in the back of the band's bus. ''We make music we want to listen to ourselves, and I think the fans appreciate that.'' The new CD, which follows the platinum success of ''White Pony,'' took a year to make (the longest of any Deftones record), but the time deepened the result. Deftones are still not for everyone - they remain abrasive compared to many radio-ready acts - but their passion is unrelenting. ''A lot of credit goes to our producer, Terry Date,'' said Moreno. ''He's very good at translating our ideas. His passion is equal to the passion we put into our music.'' Plus, Moreno does have an outlet for his nonscreaming side. It's a side band called Team Sleep, consisting of ''music I do at home - it's electronically based, more downtempo stuff. It's more romantic.'' Look for a Team Sleep CD sometime in the next 12 months.

TIMES ONLINE

Deftones have hit on an even more bizarre strategy for getting their music to the critics without compromising “security”. The Californian group’s fourth album, Deftones (Maverick/WEA), has been copied on to a cassette with a message spoken in a cinema-trailer voice — “You are listening to the new Deftones” — superimposed on the music at roughly 30-second intervals for the entire duration of the album. Well, at least they got it out of the building. And as a spoiling tactic for bootleggers it more than does the trick. Indeed, as a tactic for spoiling any aspect of the album you care to think of — musicality, lyrical content, aesthetic appeal, street credibility — this is a stroke of pure genius. Perhaps, in keeping with the spirit of the exercise, I should adopt a similar approach myself. Deftones are one of those ultra-heavy rock bands — You are reading the Sinclair review — in the Rammstein/Tool/Pantera mould, who pride themselves on their raw-boned, no-nonsense, balls-to-the-wall, keepin’-it-real — You are reading the Sinclair review — attitude. With their howling, death-screech vocals and wrecking-ball guitar riffs, songs such as Hexagram and When Girls Telephone Boys fearlessly plumb the darkest recesses of — You are reading etc — the delinquent psyche. Unfortunately, riffs ranging from the huge, banging cacophony of Bloody Cape to the turgid plod of Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event (way to go with the titles, boys!) tend to go round in aimless circles. Tunes certainly don’t come into the equation. And such words as do manage to disentangle themselves from the security voiceover mantra seem to be an all-embracing moan about the misery of life, the unfairness of love and the grisly imminence of death, dude. It is music that is designed to have you bouncing off the walls, whether you like it or not, and frankly it comes as a relief when my machine decides to eat the tape in protest and the whole sorry racket comes grinding to a premature halt. A record company flunky has kindly promised to send me another one.

score: 1 star out of 5

ORANGE COUNTY REVIEWER

First few times through, it just didn't click. "Minerva," one of the best heavy-rock singles I've heard in a long time, stuck out - with its melancholy drone yielding to Chino Moreno's exhilarating release ("God bless you all!") and post-coital purring, how could it not? The last half worked, too, once "When Girls Telephone Boys" ceases its modem-connecting squealing and segues into a suite of erotically turbo-charged difficult listening: "Battleaxe" (possessed, looking to slice), "Lucky You" (creepier and sexier than anything Trent Reznor has coughed up in a while), "Bloody Cape" (the sound of which veils tears). Difficult listening - that's it exactly. As with Tool, an even more complex entity whose most tender meat is shrouded in layers of indigestible roughage, Deftones demand patience and concentration for their slow swirls of personal and apocalyptic horror to stir into something affecting. Yet, unlike Tool, they don't resort to math-metal, nor are they frosty. They're more prone to passionate outbursts; even when they calmly ponder, they seethe with fury. Eventually it all fell into place, each piece further expanding an embrace of those Cure and Bauhaus and other goth influences that crept into "White Pony" while also wrapping its volatility in fragility - an egg, protected by hardened lava, surrounded by spider webs. Unnerving, gripping. And to a take-'em-or-leave- 'em listener like me, it makes perfect sense why it would be self-titled. Feels like a new start as much as a culmination of the past.

score: A-

KERRANG!

Deftones have always been one of a kind. It's their trailblazing individuality that makes people fall so deeply in love with them. At a time when nu-metal is on its knees, as the radio startions turn their attention to newly fatted cash cows, there is little sense that they will be dragged down with the sinking ship. Because they have always been so much cooler than that. Which is why as they reach their 4th opus they're such a huge influence on younger bands in their roaring wake. Despite releases by big guns like Linkin Park and Marilyn Manson "deftones" is possibly the most eagerly awaited new album of this year. While its shrouded in secrecy and unnecessary internet paranoia from the record company-advance copies are on cassette only, and branded with a burly, excruciatingly irritating voice informing you that "you are listening to new deftones' every 30 seconds-"deftones" is obviously even with this huge distraction a wonderful album, maybe even a classic. What it certainly is is a record from aband who now exist without refernce to others let alone reference to genre. This is a band who may well have sounded like morons in the press, looked like Kevin The Teenager in photo's and spent enough time moaning about European food-which must be terrible when you're in the habit of smoking 27 joints before elevenses- to look just like nu-metal men caught on the wrong foot during a change in public taste. But musically and lyrically ,somehow, this is an eloquent and distinguished, courageous and inventive band. Although they probably wouldnt dream of saying this themselves, deftones transend.And in this sense have as much to do with that genre as Tool. The bands eponymous 4th album takes what deftones do but does it deeper. And better. There are some great songs here-the marvelous and gliding Hexagram for one and the fantastically titled and ambient" when Boys Telephone Girls" for another, the lead single Minerva yet still more-and nothing in the way of a clunker. But the real effect of 'deftones' is one of mood and of control. Lyrically the group are unspecific but in the best sense of that word-whereas linkin park deal in generality its supposed to be universality but doesnt quite manage it) Chino Moreno leans toward the abstract but does so with the grace and instinct of a poet.On 'good morning beautiful' -another nice title, another fantastic song- he sings how 'one of these days you'll break me of many things' and how'i know what you're like,ive read it on the walls' this is not only a smart and lovely use of words but something that lends itself perfectly to the mood of the music, a sweeping, grand and lush design thick with paience and expertise. There are times on 'deftones' when you expect a song to do a certain thing-because thats what other lessar bands might do- only to have your assumptions confounded. So 'difficult' songs arent rescued by sweeping choruses, gentle song arent bolstered by crashing riffs and the overall sense of control and mastery scarcely loses its grip throughout. Over the years this is something the deftones have learned to do,and in this sense 'deftones; sounds just like deftones. But it sounds better than deftones ever have, even better than 2000's wonderful 'white pony'.And deftones dont sound like anyone else. Which is why this is a record from a band who sounds above and beyond it all.

score: 4 k's out of 5

ROLLING STONE

The mood swings like a wrecking ball on the Deftones' fourth album -- this is metal that crushes, then soothes; collapses, then soars. Headbangers will find moments of extreme violence to savor on Deftones, but this Sacramento, California, quintet also bears traces of blissed-out bands such as My Bloody Valentine and AR Kane -- art rockers who took overdriven guitars to rapturous heights. Singer Chino Moreno sounds like he's conversing with a choir of voices inside his troubled skull. He's the most Dada of the new-metal screamers: sobbing, stoned and strangely sensual, when he isn't shredding his tonsils. The band brings the requisite brutality, but this album delivers chills when it creeps past the margins of modern post-Korn heavy music: the spooky spaghetti-western drones that hover like vultures over "Death Blow," the space-is-the-place liftoff of "Minerva" and the ambient doomscape "Lucky You," which might be worth an approving smirk from the Aphex Twin. Just when new metal seemed utterly played out, Deftones blows open the possibilities. (thanks to: Frank Becerra)

score: 4 stars out of 5

MAXIM

Deftones frontman Chino Moreno rarely feels good. The singer's got lots on his mind, and most of it comes out in jarring explosions of beautiful noise laced with about as much emotional trauma as you can stand. The Sacramento quintet has a flair for anguished melody, which makes a fine setting for Moreno's improvisational bursts of raw, wordless emotion. This new album of abrasive, melodic metal sets his cries and moans against a grinding wall of sound, providing a perfect backdrop for your moments of headbanging despair. (thanks to: Carlo Russo)

score: 4 stars out of 5