Deftones: Underrated?

well so much for that lol

anyway, big new interview in Kerrang re: the new album, fair bit of detail in there. the album is out....soon, apparently.

“We’ve always made Terry quit,” chuckles Abe. “It’s kind of our thing. We make him quit every record. First record? He quit. Second record and White Pony? He quit. Self-titled? He quit. And this one? He almost quit! He’s like a dad… And you don’t want to piss dad off. We can make his glasses fog up so quick. He bites his lip, his glasses get steamy, and we know we’re at that point! There’s always that goal of, ‘Let’s make ol’ TD quit!’ A lot of times he would just quit to get us on our toes.”

If it’s true that no producer has loyally suffered more at the hands of what Abe jokes is Deftones’ ability to “excel at lagging” than Terry Date, it’s also true that no producer has harnessed the beauty and fury of Deftones’ music like him. Their latest outing is a testament to this.

Despite Abe’s jokes, Deftones clearly put the work in: a band hyper-focused on delivering an album to fall in love with, not just one epic lead single. Recorded at LA’s Henson and Seattle’s Trainwreck Studios, it was fuelled, Abe says, with the usual stimulants of “coffee, juice, good beer, laughter, a little piss’n’vinegar, but a lot less tequila”. Together with Date – who is constantly praised by Abe and Chino throughout the conversation – they worked on 12 tracks, with 10 making the final cut.

“A lot of bands say, ‘We wrote 6,000 songs for this record and chiseled it down for you, the fan!’” jabs Abe, playfully. “You didn’t write 6,000 fucking songs, man!”

The ones they did, they paid forensic attention to. The opening track, for instance, which begins with a gorgeous synth passage from Frank, had a complete overhaul. The screamed vocals you will hear were first demoed at Chino’s house over Christmas when he decided he didn’t like his initial approach on the song as it had already been recorded. Picture this: Chino – a preternaturally gifted vocalist – demoing his new take by whispering his screams into the mic so as not to disturb the people in his home. Stunning moments mount up: one song starts with a bassline so rapid Sergio Vega’s left hand probably has no fingerprints left.

https://www.kerrang.com/features/the-secrets-behind-deftones-new-album-inside-the-studio-for-the-first-time/

It's called Ohms and it comes out on 09/25 :)

omg

ohmgs

I know it's greedy but I would also still very much like a Saudade album

1. Genesis
2. Ceremony
3. Urantia
4. Errorr
5. The Spell of Mathematics
6. Pompeji
7. This Link Is Dead
8. Radiant City
9. Headless
10. Ohms

a clip of "Ohms" is out there. sounds big!

they always kill the song title game

honestly looks like they came from the deftones song title generator but I'm not mad about it

what's the best route from swerve city to radiant city

Xxp

I misread “Suadade” as Sade and immediately wanted that album to exist

i have no idea what saudade is but immediately assumed it was the name of the project where deftones + jonah matranga cover sade songs and now i refuse to correct myself

mentioned in the last revive, it's a chelsea wolfe + chino project

"ohms" the song out imminently

oh i would totally dig a chelsea wolfe/chino record

time to cry about my favorite band releasing a new record

I was surprised to discover that Gore has the lowest RYM score of all their albums. funny how it was both a (somewhat arbitrary) critical breakthrough but seemingly now a bit of a black sheep

bits of that album remain elusive to me but in an appealing way, it was interesting to read about Stephen Carpenter's slight distance towards it

gore is bafflingly underrated by ppl for not having enough riffs? even though it is absolutely packed w/ fuckin riffs

it has the best ending of any deftones record, the last three tracks are such a ride

it is definitely packed with riffs! my theory is that the slightly airier production, which is not as monolithically heavy as KNY, tricks people's ears

carpenter's issues with gore didn't make sense to me when i actually heard the record (ofc, then chino and carpenter were quick to be like "that's just the nature of us making art with each other and three other people, is we will sometimes butt heads over the direction the thing takes" and that definitely makes sense to me)

yes they definitely have a complex set of inter-band relationships! (retrospective lol at Chino sitting out the making of Saturday Night Wrist for seemingly ages)

(that's def my least favorite one despite containing at least a half-dozen stone cold stunners)

i think that's the most underrated one. certainly the mathiest they ever got. notwithstanding the last minute of "pink cellphone" is the worst part of their catalog. combat -> kimdracula -> riviere... another unbelievable ending

also it's better than adrenaline

haha I was just about to say I think that one has their best run of closing tracks! and "rats!rats!rats!" one of their finest grooviest freakouts

my unpopular opinion is that of the run of incredible records they've been on since around the fur, the s/t is my least fav. feels very disjointed despite the individual songs being great. the intensely creepy atmosphere they get on "deathblow" and "battle-axe" never really comes back? but an album with both "when girls telephone boys" and "anniversary of an uninteresting event" aka when an album contains both hardcore and slocore... it's just a little much. "moana" prob my least favorite deftones closer too even though it's a great song

but "deathblow" and "battle-axe" are like walking into a room in someone's house and it's entirely empty except for the chains swaying from the ceiling... real hellraiser horror movie vibes

I need to relisten to all three of their 2010s albums because I can't remember a note of any of them. I liked Saturday Night Wrist better than the s/t, though.

koi no yokan is the best deftones album! #koinoyokantruther

the s/t is super flawed and directionless for sure but it has a certain gothy grandeur I keep coming back to

I am def Team KNY, just unbelievable banger after banger with the very minor possible exception of "Goon Squad"

I don't listen to the first two albums back to front like....ever, tbh

i get that but around the fur still really brings it for me

I like/don't love these guys but I look forward to their new album.

terry date should get his own poll one day

got impatient and searched out the new song and holy shit

someone compared it to devin townsend and yeah the riff is very ocean machine

feeling blessed to get something like this and the new hum record in one otherwise terrible year

oh lol I forgot you can get around region blocking

yeah this sounds really different, melodically speaking. this was the "comically big" riff discussed in the Kerrang piece I guess? it fits.

Been listening to Gore for the last hour and the guitar solo on "Phantom Bride" is one of the cheesiest things I've ever heard not coming from an Italian symphonic prog band or an '80s AOR power ballad. I literally gasped.

I think I gasped the first time I heard it as well. pretty wild that it's the only guitar solo in...their entire discography?

that solo rules, thank u jerry cantrell

relistening to KNY as it's the only one I have on vinyl; it sounds pretty good considering they crammed 51 minutes into a single LP!

someone compared it to devin townsend and yeah the riff is very ocean machine

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, August 20, 2020 8:30 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

count me in

also... saturday night wrist is their best album

I generally like them well enough but have trouble telling their records apart (even their songs tbh). Maybe a tad good monolithic and compressed for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUDbj0oeAj0

oh whoops not premiering until midnight lol

xxp the “pink cellphone” outro is so damning to that album.

great song.
also, 'koi no yokan' is their best album, imo

I have no be honest, not a fan of the new album cover. reminds me of mudvayne

That is a Big-Ass Rock Song. Almost reminds me of Antenna-era Cave In.