DAILY NEBRASKIAN
Is there such a thing as four-dimensional? If there is, Deftones may know where this realm lies. With its fourth album, simply but perfectly titled "Deftones," the band has once again proven it is one of the most legitimate and creative rock outfits around. With the passion spewing debut "Adrenaline," the very different "Around The Fur," and the multilayered "White Pony," Deftones has managed to evolve yet again. This album hits a little of everything. With a generously paired criss-cross of mellowness and jolting rock, it's hard to label what style each song is. Peaceful chimey sounds double as tension builders and storm calmers. Thrashing rock riffs are the cream in the middle and provide backlash. There is a hard core spiritual freak out in the workings. It's fitting that the album cover depicts a skull surrounded by blue and red roses against a pitch black background. The difference in style from song to song is uncanny at times, but it needs no transitions. "Hexagram" opens the album's spiritual feel with Chino Moreno repeating "worship play worship play." Moreno is screeching, harmonically if you will, over riffs changing fast from soft to hard, to soft/hard, then to pretty damn hard. This methodology can only be described as "Deftonish." The album's first single "Minerva" has the same Toolesque buildup beginning as White Pony's "Change (In The House of Flies)," and the same epic feel of "I've been wronged and I'm done with this so I'm leaving." Moreno's voice can sound so symphonious it seems to get a tad blurry, but in reality it is sharp and piercing in its beauty. The only draw back is when the hard-to-grasp lyrics are at odds with the tones he uses, pulling them further away from the listener. He's one of those true vocalists. In "Needles and Pins" he screams so intensely it sounds like he's blasting out his entrails The Deftones silence predictability in songs like "Lucky You," which is also included in "The Matrix: Reloaded" soundtrack. It begins like a Marilyn Manson song, with a dark, dirty robotic trance. Moreno sounds like he's singing from the bottom of the well in "The Ring." Creepy, yes. Magnificent also. And a little sexy. This album is aptly named, for it seems the band has fallen into themselves. It's like they went into the desert, but sober. The result is an eruption of originality and jumbled distinctness. Deftones has achieved that classic sound thing that good bands keep, but this band keeps climbing over it. The Deftones aren't leaving old styles behind but certainly aren't settling either.
BG News
Whoohoo! The BG News FINALLY received a good CD to review. I have to admit, however, it took me forever to listen to the whole album because I kept wanting to listen to their first single from the CD, "Minerva." So, after what seemed like a million spins of "Minerva," I finally checked out the rest of the songs. To no surprise, they were just as great. The Deftones don't disappoint on their latest self-titled CD. All the trademarks of their powerful sound are here: Enveloping rock, soul, pure punk, metal and more. Their is no mistaking the work of the Deftones. From the cryptic lyrics of vocalist Chino Moreno to the thunderous rhythm section of drummer Abe Cunningham and bassist Chi Cheng; from the rich sounds sampled by turntablist/keyboardist Frank Delgado, to the mammoth power of guitarist Stephen Carpenter. From the first booming notes to the last chord, "Deftones" is an all out roller coaster of rock. It features such standouts as "Needles & Pins," the dark, seething "Deathblow," the harsh screech of "Battle-Axe" and the fiery yet melodic first single, "Minerva," a personal fave. "Deftones" takes the band straight from the stage, from within the studio and straight into your ears.
Grade: A
SPIN
Most pop-punk bands sing about feeling bad, but its hard to tell if they mean it. At this point, its's undoubtedly pretty good to be Good Charlotte. They can cry if they want to- its's their party. Which means it's a fine time for the return of Northern California's Deftones, a seriously moody quintet whose fan base overlaps equally with those of Korn, Weezer, and The Cure. The bands monolithic White Pony (2000) hammered out a new template for sensitive skronk, paving the way for emo-metal hybridizers like the Used. On their fourth album, Deftones are sad as hell, and they're not gonna take its anymore; this is less an 11-song album than a single long-form mope. Fans talk up singer Chino Moreno's Smith's obsession, but Deftones doesn't sound like The Queen is Dead; its sounds like someone listening to The Queen is Dead while cutting himself with a paperclip. Underwater. On the moon. Moreno howls conflicted litanies of frustration- "God bless you all," he cries at one point; "Something's wrong with you!" he bellows later. There are no hooks here, only particularly pummeling downward spirals. "Minerva" and "Lucky You" climb out of the murk, only to cannonball back down with an admirable intensity. Some bands get tagged "goth" for wearing lots of black, but Deftones are gothic for real- they practically rewrite Faust every time there's an uncomfortable silence on the other end of the cell ("When Girls Telephone Boys"). And with Deftones, they've built a cathedral of suffering, filled to the rafters with agony, awe, and terror. Ladies and gentlemen, your Sacramento Kings- of pain!
Grade: B
KNOXNEWS
Most of the players in the hard-rock game affect some degree of complexity, and most are merely posers as transparent as a freshly filled baby pool. But the Deftones dive deep into a murky metal chasm and surface with the gorgeous nightmare "Deftones," a follow to the California band's compelling platinum-seller, "White Pony." Thus "Deftones" veers around from the sweeping, emotion-flooded "Minerva" to bottom-heavy chuggers like "Bloody Cape" and "Battle-Axe" (on which a disconnected Moreno floats in and out of the mix) to quieter bits of performance art, such as "When Girls Telephone Boys" and "Lucky You." The latter cuts give the pensive vocalist a forum for lines like, "If you feel lucky, come and take me home" - which is more of a threat than an invitation. Deft ones, these Deftones.
Rating: 4/5
LAS VEGAS MERCURY
The Deftones' White Pony was one of the albums that rekindled my flagging interest in new music a few years ago. The Sacramento band's 2000 release was a blast of creative, cohesive rock that stood out in a sea of stupid rap rock and snore-inducing nu metal. From "Digital Bath" to "Teenager" to "Change (In the House of Flies)," the Deftones delivered more than a random collection of chugalug metal anthems: They blended spacey atmospherics, raging guitars and Chino Moreno's soaring vocals to create something that was genuinely fresh. Unfortunately, the Deftones' much-anticipated follow-up is a disappointment. It's a regression billed as a return to the band's hardcore roots. With "Hexagram," the first track, the Deftones seem intent on making a statement right off the bat about who they are, as if White Pony was some sort of misguided deviation. Moreno's incessant screams--lacking an obvious reason to exist--and the band's staggering aggro rhythms seem intent on refuting the exploratory efforts that typify White Pony. Most of the songs are similar musically, falling into genre cliches and never quite finding a comfortable groove. Moreno keeps up the random screaming on "Needles and Pins," "When Girls Telephone Boys" and "Bloody Cape," serving more to annoy than to entertain or to make a point. His vocal acrobatics seem unrelated to the music over which they're delivered. Songs like "Deathblow" and "Battle-axe," which presume to echo the languor of the White Pony sessions, fail to grab your attention, becoming so much Muzak between stronger tracks. There are a couple of bright spots. The mildly interesting single "Minerva" is solid Xtreme fodder, while "Lucky You" effectively evokes the delusional monotony of a mental ward. "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event" is reminiscent of Pink Floyd, though it does little to distinguish itself from its '70s art rock progenitor. But those few worthy tracks are overshadowed by the dominance of hardcore retreads. A classic case of talent wasted.
Rating: 2/5
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
By the time the DEFTONES' 1995 debut Adrenaline dropped, the band had mastered the sublime art of tonal contrast. They stood out from other nu-metal acts partly due to frontman CHINO MORENO, whose controlled, hushed vocals often erupt into blood-curdling screams. The DEFTONES' records have become progressively more abstract, relying less on extroverted melodies, and more on subtle mood shifts. Their latest effort opens with the frenetic track "Hexagram," which is fair warning of the mayhem to come! The first single off the album is the sublime masterpiece "Minerva" (Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom). This track comes to life with a delicately plucked guitar rhythm, which is quickly engulfed by a surge of distorted guitar and hypnotic drums. "Good Morning Beautiful" is a fuzzy track with tightly wound, complex vocal melodies. And though it's one of the more subdued songs on the album, the eerie "Deathblow" oozes with dark emotion. The freaky head-trip continues with the spooky electronic number "Lucky You," which is shaped by strafing bleeps and moody strings. The Deftones' latest effort is a sonic force to be reckoned with, packing epic melodic breakdowns into a somber soup of powerful musical energy.
ARIZONA SUMMER WILDCAT
Frustration. Angst. Anger. Desperation. Disparity. All of which are key themes in the new self-titled Deftones album. These guys have been churning their heavily distorted guitars for at least a decade and now seem to have meshed into a sullen, sunken, dark, operatic band of brothers. The feel on this album is epic and weighty, with no real sense that things are looking up anytime soon, except for first single "Minerva," in which singer Chino Moreno blesses everyone. That might be the problem though, because although there are lyrics printed in the CD booklet, they are almost indecipherable when Moreno moans and wails them. This is perplexing, but at the same time understandable. The guy is angry and frustrated, and his vocal delivery reflects his emotions. However, for someone who actually wants to relate the feelings conveyed in the lyrics, it'd be nice to enunciate a few phrases here and there. Maybe the peanut butter needs to come out of the mouth. The fact is, these guys have a rabid fan-base. People love them, for the same reason they love bands that you'll never understand. So why, after all this time, do the Deftones feel just as angry as when they began? Moreno was once quoted in an interview fawning over Radiohead and hoping his band could someday reach that kind of musical peak. Both Radiohead and the Deftones do make music with similar themes, albeit in different ways, but neither seems to be getting any closer to answering any problems. That's just it though. They're not here to give answers but to perfect music to accompany the questions. Rating: This album is so hot it will melt even if you don't leave it in the 200-degree heat on the dashboard of your car. Proceed with caution.
THE GATEWAY
The self-titled follow-up to the band's uber-popular third album, White Pony, Deftones re-explores the sound that has made millions. And while Deftones cleaned up from the first release, Adrenaline, to the second release, Around the Fur, and sonically exploded a la the big bang for White Pony, the five-piece outfit has pulled back on the pony's experimental reins for the fourth release. Gone are the soaring and impossibly high-registered melodies present in "Knife Party at the Niko." Instead, Deftones offer the solid-as-ever sound - thick guitars (with frontman Chino Moreno once again lending his hand), textural jazz chords delivered via a standard high gain metal sound and palpitating beats. The first song, "Hexagram," presents some of the only odd time/odd meter that Deftones has ever done before. Moreno's lyrics are still abstract and enigmatic in their traditional style-over-substance fashion, and his vocals contain his usual vacillations between throat-shredding screaming and extremely close-miced whisper melodies. If you loved any of the previous albums, this one won't disappoint.
Rating: 5/5
ANEMIC MAGAZINE
On the back of three albums that have shifted the element boundary for music in general more times than you can say unique the Deftones are finally back with album number 4. The Deftones have got the tag as being the band that sound totally different from the previous offering they release and since "Adrenaline" was released in 1995 the obscurity of this unit have stayed within our skulls ever since then. Bringing up the subject of skulls, the front cover of album number 4 has just that with flowers in the backdrop. That's rather pretty self- explanatory right? That is about the only thing that is as this album once again is 1 million miles away from the bands previous effort "White Pony". Although many people had mixed feelings about WP it was a direction the band pursed immensely and to this day I still stand to say that it is their most solid effort. With mixed thoughts on the previous many people thought that this was the album that the Sacramento 5 piece had to rise to. In the bands eyes though its just another album and as long as new elements are being established then its mission accomplished. More elements created indeed as the opener "Hexagram" is one of the most obscure tracks that the Deftones have put pen to paper on since they started. Moreno's voice is exploring avenues that have never been entered before and as Stephen Carpenter's guitar riffs see the peak of diversity we are witnessing guitarist and front man seeing eye to eye on things this time around. 'Needles and Pins' continues the battle as a very 'My Own Summer' start is ventured and then taking up the challenge, Moreno delivers with melody and mystique that is more potent than a Chris Webber slam dunk. The first four tracks on the album are certainly the shining point on this album as the perfect single 'Minerva' and the newly appointed 'Good Morning Beautiful" convey the first twenty minutes of mayhem. 'When Girls Telephone Boys' is the most brutal assault on the album as the adventure in the time machine to the "Adrenaline" days is explored and as "White Pony" witnessed this exact same thing with 'Elite' it was no surprise to see a track like this pop up. 'Lucky You' is the track that many people will learn to love as a slower approach is taken by the band and with Tinfed's Rey Osburn lending a hand on the vocal duties it just ads a extra dimension to the sparkling scenery. 'Lucky You' is one thing but 'Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event' tops all things off with piano and more effects by Frank Delgado being tossed into the oven. Occasions like this often result in hit or miss type situation but in this case it is something that the Tones have always been capable of doing. Saving the best till last as 'Moana' relives the assault of guitar, drums and vocals for just one last moment as once again Carpenter, Moreno and Abe Cunningham shape things of to blissful ending. As people waited at extended lengths for this to appear on record store shelves the wait has ended and although this album certainly takes more than a couple of listens to get the gist of, it certainly was worth the wait. Mr Terry Dates has pushed this band to explore new traits in the past and this time around is no different. The vocals are the most diverse to date from Chino Moreno, and even though some might say there is a fine line between diversity and patchiness, Moreno's efforts are exceptional with patchiness not even finding the light of day. It would be sweeping to say that this is the best effort to date but the question is debatable. Throw it into the fray with the other threes albums because it certainly does show some of the best work to date in areas. So does the previous three for that matter, let the debate begin!!!
Rating: 4.5/5
THE DAILY WASHINGTON
Unlike other So Cal nu-metal bands, Deftones has managed to keep its edge and maintain its status as one of the premiere acts in the alt-rock universe. The band stays on top by approaching its music as an art instead of an opportunity to make noise. This artistic approach became apparent after the band's last release, 2000's White Pony, sold more than 3 million albums worldwide. However, its latest effort, the self-titled Deftones, is a throwback to its earlier albums with more of a metal, instead of a moody, experimental feel. The album is an intense listen throughout its 11 songs, with exceptions being the electronic "Lucky You" and the uncharacteristically poetic "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event," the latter being a track which will likely be under-appreciated by Deftones fans. The album begins in typical Deftones fashion on its "Hexagram," when a soft riff explodes into a loud and heavy melody that is accompanied by vocalist Chino Moreno's distorted wails. The lead single, "Minerva" (which strangely enough is being used for a VH1 commercial), perfectly captures the album's essence of metal mixed with melody with gritty and edgy riffs and a sing-along chorus. The quiet/loud/quiet audio assault Deftones is famous for, leaves its mark on most of the album's songs. Songs like "Deathblow" and "Good Morning Beautiful" transforms from standard metal fare to potent and aggressive angst-riddled tracks when heavy, fuzz-filled guitars and Moreno's trademark vocals kick in. The electronically driven "Lucky You," which also appears on the soundtrack for The Matrix Reloaded, fits better here than on the soundtrack, but it sounds too influenced by it and is out of place on an album with severe metal undertones. The song "Bloody Cape" and the album's closing track "Moana" maintain the album's metal edge with more of the same quite/loud/quiet approach. This lack of diversity holds the album back. On White Pony, the band showed more potential than any other in its league (read: Papa Roach, Linkin Park, P.O.D. et al.), but doesn't quite go in the same direction with this album. The rhythm section holds together several tracks on the album including a bridge during "When Girls Telephone Boys," which makes for a solid transition to the song's closing. Its moments like this that make Deftones a heavy metal staple as a band and Deftones as an album formidable follow-up to White Pony.
THE WAX CONSPIRACY
Nu-metal is a genre that might need a name change in the not too distant future. Perhaps not so nu-metal? It's also a genre with a few quality issues. A lot of it is seriously lacking in (a) artistic talent (b) originality and (c) intellectual content. So perhaps Nu-metal is a box that Deftones have been unfairly packed into. In fact after listening to their new album I'm beginning to think that they deserve a box all of their own! Not only do these boys not fit into a genre box they also don't fit into any traditional rockstar mould. They are real and genuine people that just happen to have become international megastars. No tacky product endorsements, no carbon copy pretty boy looks. The Deftones boys are themselves and they're damn comfy in their skins. In an age of unattainable ideals the Deftones manage to convey an accessibility and connection with their fans second to none. The eagerly anticipated, much debated and jealously guarded new self titled album manages to do what few albums seem able to. It breaks new ground while maintaining the bands artistic integrity. Lyrically and musically it reflects a band who are constantly seeking to bring new ideas to fruition. Their lyrical content has changed over the years to reflect what the boys are currently experiencing in their lives and this has allowed them to stay fresh and passionate. Chino's lyrics are intricate, complex, poetic and abstract. Chino resists the road of easily digestible angst and instead his lyrics are almost like a stream of consciousness exploration of the pictures inside his head. While it embraces a variety of styles throughout, it is also remarkably consistent in quality. No filler tracks here. Patience is not one of my strong points and I have not used the skip button on this one once. While the boys maintain their bottom heavy big guitar sound they also experiment increasingly with electronic soundscapes. Rather than making a point of using electronica they integrate it seamlessly into their established style to allow the music to better paint their visions. Chino's energy as a frontman takes us from sulky, stoned, sensuality through to screaming rage and back again within the space of seconds. The musicianship throughout has the seasoned tightness of a band that has toured and played together extensively. Big riffs combined with sexy atmospheric moments make this an original and beautiful album that never fails to surprise in all the right ways. A truly stunning album and a worthy follow up to White Pony.
NME
One thing people never mention is how Deftones make great music to have orgies to. Indeed, earlier this year, the last album 'White Pony' provided the soundtrack to one of the most enjoyable and exciting evenings of this writer's life. Anyhoooo... Although they often get lumped in with dreadful nu-metal acts like Korn or Limp Bizkit, Deftones are actually one of America's most dynamic and creative modern rock groups. Sure, they may use a lot of the same one-note, downtuned riffs as the aforementioned dimwits, but Deftones also employ cunning devices like 'taste', 'melody' and 'emotion' to pepper their songs. Despite their name (which has always made them sound like a No Doubt-tribute act) the 'Tones have always made consistently engaging and aesthetically-acceptable records. For example, their crossover hit 'Back To School' definitely falls into the 'rap metal' genre, but it's still actually a 100 per cent great song. Hey indie guy! Yes you. Even YOU, with your embarrassing hair and womanly walk, YOU are allowed to like the Deftones. Hush now. Stop crying you little bitch. It's going to be OK. So, this is the Sacramento five-piece's fourth studio album and it's another winner. It builds on the sexy, nihilistic vibes of 'White Pony' but this time it sounds like the Pony's being sexually abused in the basement of an Albanian-gangster-run whorehouse in Soho (thanks to amazingly lax British immigration policy, there are now hundreds of such establishments, should you wish to visit one). While the basic Tones sound is still pretty much the same as before - big guitars, brutal riffs giving way to mournful, melodic Smashing Pumpkins bits and then huge choruses - Chino Moreno's singing and screaming and lyrics are more deranged and bla-zow and whaaat-the-fuuck than at any point in the band's career (can anybody tell me what 'You blaze.. out like a sharp machine.. like a whale's moan' fucking means??!! 'Aria'). It's all good then, and especially so when you consider the dreadfully safe, depressingly comfortable state of American rock music right now - 1960s retro blues rock rules indie while Good Charlotte and Avril Lavigne are sold to you as punk rock - then you have to thank Deftones for having the skills to making a modern, commercially-viable, carefully crafted rock record that also sounds violent, deranged and desperately, incurably sad all at the same time. And - most importantly - won't put you off your stroke during a three way with dildos and whips.
RATING: 8
THE NEWS RECORD
The Deftones just released a new album, and it is exactly what the rock industry needs. Lately, radio stations have been packing a deadly pop arsenal, which includes the massively destructive weapons of Aguilera and the always-sappy guy-girl R&B duets. And the rock stations haven't been doing that much better. With awful bands such as Hed (PE) and Drowning Pool representing the new-metal movement, all metal-heads should stop banging and hang their heads in shame. But Deftones brings a refreshing bolt of energy to the scene and gives rock fans a reason to proudly raise their horns. With 11 unyielding tracks, the Deftones' self-titled album will undoubtedly be put on repeat in any tasteful hard-rocker's stereo. On Deftones, the five-member band continues to march on in its modern rock glory but, this time, they tread on a shifting terrain, causing the album to be even more diverse than the previous releases, leaving each song unique and crisp. The Deftones are one of the only bands that can skillfully pull off having such a varied collection of songs on one album. As in its Grammy-Award-winning 2000 release, White Pony, the Deftones' new album combines vocalist Chino Moreno's airy and shattering voice with a loud, intricate symphony of distorted strings, but still manages to slow down on a few songs and incorporate the well-crafted sounds of the band's DJ, Frank Delgado. One such tune is "Lucky You." Mixing Delgado's hypnotic space-age jungle drums with Moreno softly whispering, "I watch you kill/You always have/You always will," making the track one of the more solid songs on the album. Unlike other metal DJ's, Delgado is much more than just a record scratcher. He creates concentrated electronic atmospheres and ghostly piano solos, which linger with the listener much longer than the sometimes annoying and unoriginal studio-produced sounds of other hard-rock groups. Another incredible slow-moving track is "Anniversary of An Uninteresting Event." Here, an echoing Moreno expressively sings over a track of Delgado's soothing bells and keys, which organically blends with drummer Abe Cunningham's slow cymbals and shakers. It will instantly put the metal mind in a dream-like state. But Moreno's voice doesn't always stay quiet and gentle - his normal catastrophic screaming and crashing guitars and heavy drums triumphantly returns to the Deftones' fourth album. The album opens up with what is possibly its heaviest song. "Hexagram" features Moreno's trademark ability to make it seem easy to ruin vocal chords. The song will easily rock awake any music fan bored with the lame bands wearing the new-metal label. However, the Deftones do overuse the Smashing Pumpkins-perfected technique of starting off a song with soft guitars and, a few seconds later, pound in with screaming vocals and intense electronic guitars. But Deftones provides a twist to every song, keeping the album from becoming repetitive and uninteresting. The album's first single, "Minerva," is one such song. It begins with the simple plucking of strings and is soon climactically joined with an ensemble of rocking guitars. Moreno sings of a girl who gets him "all numb when she sings." He artfully belts out, "God bless you all/For the song you saved us." No, God bless you, Deftones for saving new metal from the monotonous pits of music misery.
WEST VALLEY VIEW
And the crowd goes wild.
So starts the Deftones' fourth release, a self-titled smash with enough jagged edges to tear itself out of any genre that may try to define it. It's not metal, it's not prog-rock, it's not trip-hop, dub-funk or scream-core. It's not anything.
It's the Deftones: ear-splitting, boundary-pulverizing, tear-your-guts-out music of the highest order.
First a question: When hasn't the crowd gone wild? Few groups can deliver on such heavy notes as the Sacramento, Calif., band with the look of a street punk, the ethics of Attila the Hun - attack music, reform music, conquer music. And it won a Grammy (2001 Best Metal Song, "Elite")
Its newest release, which hit stores last week, is by far the band's most personal. Adrenaline was sonic and angry; Around the Fur was more precise and ultimately angrier; and 2001's White Pony, was the defining moment, a quiet fantasy. Deftones though, is a step down from the band's typical claustrophobic chagrin of razor-wire strangulation and White Pony's metal-meets-Pink Floyd. There's hope in this disc, but there's also tragic melancholy transfixed within trance-like guitar sailings, rhythmic poundings and the intricate moan of lead singer Chino Moreno. It feels sad, yet satisfying. It feels good.
From the opening whispers of "Deathblow" to the slow chug of "Battle-axe," this disc reveals that the Deftones are never done reinventing music. This is a band that could bring fans of Slayer and Thelonious Monk under the same roof, where they could find an equal balance of slam and sweetness, rage and reason, fury and frailty.
Not all of the album - which reveals itself as one giant piece of music, not 11 different tracks on a CD - is as artsy as the deepest tracks, such as "Lucky You" and "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event." Some of it is straight-up tough: an exploding blend of power and ferocity. There are the more commercial hits like the soaring "Hexagram" and the first single, the wily slam "Minerva." All of these songs, moods and anthems of agony fit perfectly under the robust body of talents that create the Deftones.
The world will never fully support the exquisite songwriting of a band such as the Deftones, but at least the band still pushes on. The Sacto fivesome -Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, Chi Cheng and Frank Delgado - have breathed life into metal before, but never like this. This is too much. Too beautiful.
And the crowd goes wild.
ALL MUSIC GUIDE
The Deftones didn't really have a hard time with their third album, White Pony, since it did receive generally positive reviews and entered the Billboard charts at number three. However, the class of 2000/2001 nu-metalurgists overshadowed the group in terms of sales, even if they retained greater critical respect and a hardcore fan base, who nevertheless still registered some reluctance in regard to the artier, atmospheric, post-punk edges on White Pony. At first, their simply titled eponymous fourth album seems like a retreat from that territory, since as it opens with "Hexagram" it hits hard - harder than they ever have, revealing how mushy Staind is, or how toothless Linkin Park is, even if it's a bit of a shame that Chino Moreno has resorted to guttural barking for singing. Deftones continue in that vein through much of the first half of the record, gradually working in more atmospheric numbers as the record draws to a close. That shift in mood has the strange effect of seeming confident at first, and then a retreat, even if the music they're retreating to is, by and large, more adventurous and reminiscent of White Pony. It feels as if the Deftones feel compelled to strengthen their metallic roots and will sacrifice the very things that make them better and more interesting than the rest - namely, their love of art rock, whether it's via the Cure or My Bloody Valentine. They don't abandon this impulse completely - and when they marry it to their harder inclinations, the results are smashing, as on the lead single, "Minerva" - which is welcome, since even if the harder stuff is done well (again, better than their peers), it doesn't carry nearly as much promise as when the Deftones don't play by the nu-metal reviews. When they do play by the rules, they're good, but they're great when they don't follow a map. Deftones sticks a little too close to familiar territory this time around - the sound is still good, but knowing that they have done a record like White Pony, this feels like a disappointment, especially because in its unevenness, it sounds like it is the album that should have come before this one.
SCORE: 3 stars
RTE INTERACTIVE
Before even hearing their debut albums, anyone who saw the promo videos for Korn's 'Blind' or the Deftones' '7 Words' knew that metal was turning in on itself. The strange guitars, time changes and vocals signalled the start of a whole new order and an entire genre followed in their wake. In the eight years since, fate has played a game of pluses and minuses with both bands. Korn got the bigger share of fame but failed to recapture the intensity of their first record with last summer's eagerly awaited 'Untouchables' proving to be a rehash. Deftones meanwhile, didn't get the same shine of the spotlight, yet every time they went into the studio they came out sounding better than before. Their calling card 'Adrenaline' signalled a fusing of introspection and rage that would see them pull away from their peers two years later with the follow-up 'Around the Fur'. Then in 2000 came 'The White Pony', a (still) vastly underrated opus that saw Deftones blending atmospherics, backing singers and more turntables in between the tender/rage vocals of Chino Moreno and fearsome guitars of Stephen Carpenter. The anthemic quality and moodiness of 'Around the Fur's standout track 'Be Quiet' were bettered on the likes of 'Knife Party', 'Passenger' and 'Pink Maggot', a troika, which said that the only thing that could slow the Deftones down was how fast their fans were able to keep up with them. Now three years - and reportedly $2.5m later - comes their self-titled fourth instalment, which has some great moments yet suggests devotees won't be out of breath. It's a far more brutal collection than its predecessor but with that power some of the drama has been lost. You have to wait until the third song, 'Minerva', for the first instance of music that refuses to let you go and while - two tracks later - 'Deathblow' spookily recalls the harmonica from spaghetti western 'Once Upon a Time in the West', its impact owes much to another great 'White Pony' cut, 'Change'. The album's best moments come in the second half with 'When Girls Telephone Boys' alluring title blown away as Carpenter metes out tonal punishment and Moreno wails "I do hope we never meet again". That's followed by 'Lucky You's rumbling electro and echo filled-drums and 'Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event' which wraps Moreno's voice around a piano for a Deftones first - a song you could, almost, slow dance to. It's here that the band push hardest - doing to themselves what they did to metal in the mid 90s. If everything else had lived up to these two, they could've retired now and waited years to hear serious challengers come around. Instead, split unevenly between aggression and adventure, Deftones finds its creators never less than compelling but falling short of the life-altering band they have the potential to be. The mosh pit will love it, but those of us who prefer to stay down the back may have to wait for Moreno's Mogwai-tinged side project Team Sleep for the low points we've been waiting for.
SCORE: 3 stars out of 5
TORONTO STAR
Saddled with a lingering nu-metal association, California's Deftones are increasing their distance from their more loutish contemporaries. The new Deftones finds the quintet emphasizing the "nu" over the metal, with scattered results. Crystalline guitar cyclones that, at times, evoke the gilded amp torture of Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine or a monstrously heavy Sonic Youth sideswipe molten near-grindcore passages ("Hexagram"), doomy, arrhythmic electronic spasms ("Lucky You") and coiling dub-metal creep-outs ("Deathblow") in service of half-euphoric/half-queasy outsider anthems that switch moods from docile to dangerous at a second's notice. Singer Chino Moreno's mercurial wail is left to carry most of the melody, but there's a frustrating lack of moments like White Pony's "Change (In The House Of Flies)" or "The Passenger" where the vocals and the complex riffery entwine to produce a song that stands apart from the roaring whole. Still, the Deftones remain one of the most viscerally and artistically compelling acts to emerge from the '90s metal boom.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
IN a little more than five years Sacramento, California's Deftones have become the heavy-metal equivalent of a David Lynch film. Their songs are often fuzzy and nonlinear, but have been successfully marketed as a sonic experience to be appreciated if not always understood. For its latest self-titled album, the Deftones have spindled their melodies a little tighter, but still are stretching for an abstract-art approach. Four albums into the band's career this is a tougher sell. A lack of original thinking makes the structural flaws of the songs more apparent than in the past. On 2000's million-plus-selling breakthrough White Pony, the Deftones expanded digital technology to complement the emotionally tortured lyrics by frontman Chino Moreno. Few seemed to notice that many songs, like Street Carp and single Change (In the House of Flies), didn't always have a melodic spine. They haven't aged well. The 11 new tracks on Deftones sound like a continuation of the White Pony sessions without the benefit of fermentation. Lead song Hexagram begins with a thundering emo guitar line that holds the promise of lamenting shrieks and blistering chords. A jarring chorus, with pseudo hip-hop taunts of "worship" and "play," trample the flow. It's as if the Deftones, unable to find the appropriate bridge, simply sewed two mismatched song shards together and called it one. Lead single Minerva doesn't have a traditional chorus either, but is the rare success because of it. Opening with the loose strum of an acoustic guitar tuned to sound like a ukulele, the riff makes a return between stanzas of anthemic angst. It's like a brief Hawaiian holiday between verses representing a hellish work week. Battle-Axe and Needles and Pins stream to the choruses with more dexterity. When it works, the group is more listenable than Godsmack, but not quite as effortless as Metallica. Most noticeable is how Moreno's vocals have gone from supporting instrument to centerpiece in the space of two albums. When the Deftones turn down the volume, slow the pace and let Moreno sing without screeching, tracks like Deathblow and Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event immediately become standouts. It's a softer modern-rock sound -- think the Cure or Bauhaus -- but effective. In the past the Deftones were simply trying to prove that they could hold court alongside metal big boys. The new songs are better, but still don't have quite the confidence of the genre's icons. The contrast will become clear when the Deftones take these songs on the road, opening for Metallica.
GRADE: C+
STAR TRIBUNE
Metal? Thrash? Emo? The Deftones have never been easily categorized, and with their first album in three years, they seem to have come full circle with a brutal yet utterly blissful collection of dark musical mini-dramas. Pummeling guitars and groove-wringing rhythms are matched by the hypnotic power of Chino Moreno's lazy snarls and sultry screams. Another delirious meld of vulnerability and voraciousness by the band that perfected the blend.
TIME EUROPE MAGAZINE
If Chino Moreno were a girl - and he'll probably take this the wrong way - he would be Christina Aguilera. The nu-metal that Moreno yawps as lead singer of the Deftones is the masculine obverse of Aguilera's teen pop; both are gender- and age-specific modes of musical expression about sex, self-doubt and self-pity. Both tend to be pretty awful. But Moreno, like his Dirrty doppelgänger, is perceived as being a cut above his peers, mainly because he can sing and occasionally because he can think. The Deftones' self-titled fourth album has enough of the usual brain-crunching power chords, curdling screams and angst to keep the band's core audience blissfully alienated. Minerva, the first single, is a churning semiballad about a failed relationship that, with minimal allegorization, could also be addressed to the kids in the pit. With his voice floating over a crisp hurricane of guitar, Moreno sings, "I get all numb/ We're the same numb/ And it brings our knees to the earth." It's not subtle, but then it doesn't objectify anybody, and it has a winner of a hook. That is probably the most we can ask of nu-metal. As for Moreno's lyrics - championed by fans over those of Fred ("Agreeance") Durst and Korn's Jonathan Davis - well, sure, he's the T.S. Eliot of rock's special school. But if you're not grading on a curve, it's hard to see what the fuss is about. Moreno's wordplay is certainly cryptic enough - "Yeah if you'd like that we can ride on a blackhorse/ A great new wave Hesperian deathhorse," he screams on the thrashfest When Girls Telephone Boys - but the songs still seem to be about psychic injuries and the people who caused them. It's territory that has been covered far more eloquently by Tool and Nine Inch Nails. What makes Deftones worthwhile and, yes, one of the better albums in the brief history of the genre is that it sounds fantastic. Loud-soft dynamics are a staple of nu-metal, but Deftones doesn't just shift mood and rhythm from song to song - sometimes heavy-handedly, as in the back-to-back placement of dissonantly named tracks Good Morning Beautiful and Deathblow. It does so within songs, and sometimes within bars. It takes a tight band to pull this off, even in a recording studio. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter and bassist Chi Cheng actually seem to like melody, and they aren't afraid of playing simple, accessible licks with immaculate cleanliness. Drummer Abe Cunningham has a tougher job, trying to set the pace when the pace is constantly changing, but he does it flawlessly. Moreno deserves some credit too. In 2001 one of his vocal cords became paralyzed on a lengthy tour, and it sounds as if he has picked up some technique in his rehabilitation. He's still capable of low-range mini-arias that torture his tonsils, but he has also found some control in his upper range. He can now stretch his voice with confidence, and even when he's talking about Hesperian horses, the sound can be inspiring.
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
