A few years ago I remember stumbling across this review that said Deftones were, and I quote, the “Radiohead of metal”. What the fuck is that supposed to even mean? How can anything be the Radiohead of anything? Music journalism sucks. But, I suppose if you HAD to extract some sort of sense out of that statement, you could say that this individual was referring to the manner in which both bands draw upon the borderlands of taste to create an end product that is ultimately pop music. And with Koi No Yokan, Deftones’ seventh album and second since the disaster that almost tore them apart, they succeed at the powerful, grandiose synergy that defines and reiterates their place among the echelon of Greatest Bands of All Time.

If you haven’t been able to tell yet with the onslaught of teaser videos and concert footage, we take Deftones very seriously here at Bearded Gentlemen Music. You should too. 1997’s Around the Fur and 2000’s White Pony were landmark releases that destroyed any notion of Deftones as just another nu-metal band. The album’s liberal integration of shoegaze and trip-hop into their distinctive alt-metal sound changed many people’s views of what ‘metal’ was, and the horrifyingly bad sub-genre ‘nu-metal‘ that Faith No More had accidentally created was officially killed off. These two albums have become modern classics, and are essential to any fan of heavy music’s discography. Even 2003’s pale in comparison’s Deftones is a lot better than people initially gave it credit for; its just that White Pony set an impossibly high benchmark in creativity that they weren’t quite able to live up to. My personal favorite of theirs, 2006’s Saturday Night Wrist, was a tense affair that reflected the state of the band at the time. It’s safe to say that they were personally and creatively unsure about exactly what they wanted to do with the band, and the results were highly experimental and polarizing in their reception. While working on a follow up to SNW, founding member and bassist Chi Cheng was involved in a car accident that put the man into a coma that he only recently came out of. But, instead of letting this tragedy get the better of the band, Deftones recruited Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega and quickly churned out Diamond Eyes in 2010, a record full of vitality that acted as a mission statement of positivity for the band’s future. While I was not personally a huge fan of the record, Diamond Eyes was noted by many to be a return to form by a band that was almost certainly facing doom. Riding the wake of this new found vitality, 2012’s Koi No Yokan arrives now a mere 2 years later, one of their shortest time periods between records in their entire career. It was almost as though Diamond Eyes was them tapping into some new source of energy, energy they were quick to harvest and unleash to its fullest extent in Koi No Yokan. This record is, in every way, an expansion and improvement of their new sound.

It’s important to note that Deftones hasn’t been the primary activity of each of its members over the past decade or so. Both guitarist Steph Carpenter and front-man Chino Moreno have been involved in their fair share of side projects over the years, Moreno’s being ultimately more notably and influential to the band itself. Moreno’s time spent indulging in electronic pop in Team Sleep and Crosses have carried over to the band a large degree over the years, and the influence of this is especially apparent in their latest release. In the past, Moreno would allow himself at least one track of electronic self-indulgence, and this didn’t always work out for the best (see the catastrophe that is “Pink Cellphone” from SNW). Moreno’s activity in Crosses last year was a proper outlet for these tendencies, and with the all-out electronic experimentation out of his system, the integration of electronica in Koi No Yokan is a lot more fluid and subtle than in the past. Tracks like “Entombed” and “What Happened To You?” embrace electro-pop while still managing to sound very much like a band. Frank Delgado’s keys are also given much more room to breathe in this record, which results in a very textured sound that can be heard in every song on the album. Also notable is Carpenter’s switch from a seven-string to an eight-string guitar. A friend and I joked a few days ago that some of the riffs on this album are so low it sounds like he’s playing bungee cords instead of actual guitar strings, and while this may be slight hyperbole, it’s really not that far off from what it sounds like. The riffs on opener “Swerve City” and old-school throwback “Poltergeist” absolutely pummel, and even though the closing riff on album highlight “Rosemary” is basically just a reworking of the last 30 seconds of “Diamond Eyes”, it still manages to beat the shit out of any willing, masochistic ear drums. Replacement bassist Vega seems to finally be getting comfortable in his position in the group, and his sweeping bass lines that accentuate tracks “Swerve City” and “Goon Squad” prove that he has become a vital member to the band as opposed to a mere replacement musician. Musically, Koi No Yokan has everything you can ever want from the ‘Tones, a soaring mix of beauty and brutality that has defined their sound ever since their inception.

And then there’s the vocals. As characteristic and important as the musicians of Deftones are, it’s the awe-inspiring, utterly unique vocal chords of front-man Chino Moreno that has always been the heart and soul of this band (I love him so much. So, so fucking much!). No one on the planet is able to balance shimmering beauty and chaotic aggression quite like this man, and over the past 15 years or so, he has become one of the most distinctive vocalists in all of music. On Koi No Yokan, I want to say that he sounds better than ever, but that’s impossible to say because he has literally never sounded bad on anything. From the scarred emotionality of “Leathers, to the croon of “Entombed” to the motherfucking rapping on “Poltergeist”, every single vocal performance on this album is a highlight. Moreno has embraced pop more than ever on this album, and while some may miss the all over the place chaos of past tracks like “Rapture” and “Hexagram”, Moreno compensates by crafting some of the catchiest tunes this band has created in more than a decade.  Singles “Leathers” and “Tempest” would have the potential to be massive at some weirdo alternative rock radio station, and every other track on the album is sure to be your favorite during your relationship with this album. Deftones have always been masters of dynamics and sequencing, and this album is laid out beautifully, each song complimenting the other while standing solid on its own. All the familiar Deftones tropes are touched upon, but in a way that sounds very refreshing and essential. There is just simply no other band out there making music like these guys, but instead of that being a sign that their sound is old and out of place, the band still sounds as vital and timeless as ever. When a band like Deftones puts an album out, it’s always a big deal, and with Koi No Yokan, they’ve been able to simultaneously live up to and surpass the hype that more than a decade of classic albums has built up for them. Whether in or out of context, this album is a huge accomplishment, and it deserves your time and attention. Luckily this album is such a masterful piece of work that allowing yourself to get completely lost in it isn’t much of a struggle at all. There’s a reason why this is my favorite band of all time. They should probably be yours too.

Editors Note: For more Deftones action and quality live videos, check our concert review. https://beardedgentlemenmusic.com/2012/10/29/deftones-in-the-venue-slc-ut-101712/