The release of a new Deftones album is always a cause for celebration. They’ve survived 20 years, battled drug abuse, divorce, nu-metal and dealt with the tragic death of their bassist Chi Cheng. And miraculously their critical stature has only grown with each passing album.
Long gone are the days where you would have to sheepishly admit to being a Deftones fan, now thankfully everyone knows how fucking terrific they are. And they deserve it; every passing album since 1997 has been a masterpiece, developing their sound without straying too far away from the textures that made us fall in love with them in the first place.
Their eighth album Gore is exactly what you would expect from the band, and that’s not damning them with faint praise. It’s powerful, it’s beautiful, it’s melodic, it’s transformative, everything you associate from the Sacremento five.
There are so many highlights on Gore. The gorgeous and seductive ‘Hearts/Wires’, the menacing rush of ‘Geometric Headdress’, the pure metal fury of ‘Doomed Fury’, and the exhilarating opening track ‘Prayers/Triangles’ (jeez guys, pick a title and stick to it). Stephen Carpenter’s crunching guitars and Abe Cunningham’s drums crash into you from both sides, as Chino’s voice lifts you above the wreckage and Frank Delgado’s keyboards remind you that in an alternative universe, Deftones would be perfectly happy as a Depeche Mode tribute band.
Although there’s nothing here that’s a massive departure, as with their synth-heavy White Pony, nor is there anything as crowd-pleasingly catchy as found on previous album Koi No Yokan, instead we have a combination of the more atmospheric moments from their self-titled 2003 album and the punk abrasion of Diamond Eyes, rounded off with some euphorically delivered choruses. It’s extraordinary how Deftones continue to take these elements developed over the course of their entire career; ones that are unmistakably ‘Deftones’, and consistently manage to create music that sounds so utterly fresh and vital. Although this has been obvious to some for a long while, it’s time we all realised that Deftones are the world’s greatest surviving rock band.
Check out all the latest music releases in our new album reviews section, including Frightened Rabbit’s Painting of a Panic Attack.
