Deftones – ‘Deftones’
After the ground-shaking success of their masterpiece, 2000’s White Pony, Deftones found themselves in the strange position of needing to follow it up with something as potent. It’s not very often that bands find themselves in such a predicament and come out of it shining, yet this is Deftones. They’re no ordinary band, and their natural aversion to the norm and genre-ascending music meant they seamlessly moved onto the next chapter of their career following its arrival.
Whilst it is nowhere near as lauded as its predecessor, those in the know will tell you that Deftones is one of the band’s best moments. The shaded side of the coin to White Pony, it’s arguably their most gothic record, with ample atmosphere and some of guitarist Stephen Carpenter’s most punishing riffs.
Another stellar intersection between the band’s various metal sensibilities – including the distinct groove subgenre – and a host of the other forms they cite as influences, including goth, ambient and shoegaze, it draws from their ferocious and heady sides and blends them into one mesmerising sonic mass. Accordingly, every band member shines on this opus.
Frontman Chino Moreno provides some of his best vocal work, guitarist Stephen Carpenter continues on his arc of studio refinement, bassist Chi Cheng delivers some of the most swollen tones of his career so far, turntablist Frank Delgado ditches the vinyl for synths in an adroit move, and drummer Abe Cunningham is his usual dynamic self, with the loose pops of his snare giving this thing an edge in both its heavier and more languid moments. All converge to create a quintessentially Deftones body of work without ever overshadowing each other, which has always been one of their secrets to success.
The record commences with one of the band’s most delirious moments, ‘Hexagram’. After the quiet guitar-led introduction, Moreno screams, and the band kick in together, setting a precedent for what’s to come. The frontman’s performance is particularly compelling, with his banshee-like yells carried by a touch of haunting digital colouring and the cold synthetic strings occupying the background space. The switch of rhythm is a particularly impactful aspect of this cut, with Carpenter’s relentless hammer-ons incredibly muscular.
The album then swiftly moves onto ‘Needles and Pins’. Building on the foundations laid by the first track, although it is not as pained as its precursor. The arpeggiated riff – which sounds almost like it’s played on an electrical instrument – perhaps points to the future direction the band will take. Props must also go to Chi Cheng for his bass work on this piece. Heavy yet not overdoing it, this is a masterclass in letting the bass breathe, where it fills in the gaps between Carpenter and Cunnigham whilst also providing a melodic backing to the track as a whole
There’s a strong argument that ‘Minerva’ is the strongest track on the album. Whilst fans of the band who tend to err on the puritanical side would favour the more outwardly heavy moments, the panache the quintet package here is one of their ultimate feats, and I’m sure it will continue to be deemed so.
It’s also one of the songs wherein Deftones perfect their formula: it’s heavy music, yet wholly transcendental. The dreamy strumming instantly lures the listener in before firing us into space. Carpenter, Cheng and Delgado all dovetail into a gigantic wall of sound. The swollen pulses of Cheng’s four-string and, in particular, the way he slowly glides up the neck to add movement during the verse is one of his greatest victories.
There are no words that can describe the fill Cunningham delivers just before all the elements kick back in at 2:39, where he stylistically pierces the space and brings us in for another ride. Then there’s the vocal performance. The infectious chorus line “So God bless you all / For the song you saved us” and the wistful “oh” that follows it is glorious. A total sonic sensation, it’s a testament to Deftones that you can lose yourself in this piece.
Another highlight is ‘Good Morning Beautiful’. A piece where Abe Cunningham shines, he covers almost every inch of the kit with his clever off-beats and cymbal rides in a highly sophisticated performance. The rhythm during the “You / Should wake up” part is impossible not to move to, with the band’s groove metal origins coming to the fore. They repeatedly revisit this section before bringing it to a gradual crescendo during the last lap with emphasis on the drums, in another astute musical decision.
In truth, Deftones is without a tangible downside. ‘Deathblow’ is another masterclass in atmosphere—the attitude-laden, doomy riff of ‘When Girls Telephone Boys’ is one of Carpenter’s most impactful; Chi Cheng once more plunges us into a pool of low-end on ‘Battle-axe’, with the stoned trip-hop essence of ‘Lucky You’, a clever way to break proceedings up. The latter is another possible suggestion of the future directions the band might take.
Then we come to the indomitable ‘Bloody Cape’. One of Carpenter and Cheng’s best duets, their respective instruments link up to guide the listener on a sonic trip that encompasses both the emotive and visceral sides of Deftones, where a simple hammer-on is enough to make us want to put a wall through. The way they ride on the same phrase in a brief semi-beat-down after 2:40 is also of the purest quality and a nod to the more unfettered metal of 1998’s Around the Fur.
Another heady moment ensues in the ‘Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event’, coming with intense drums, droning synths, a twinkling xylophone and a post-rock-leaning piano line. It’s beautiful. The group then ramp things up once more for ‘Moana’, a piece stylistically similar to ‘Battle-axe’ and ‘Death Blow’ that concludes with the jarring sound pick being run across the strings, showing that the viscera-loving band of their early years is still very much present. They’ve just refined their formula.
To put it simply, Deftones is a masterpiece.
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