Deftones – Ohms

7/10

‘Ohms’ is one of the most obvious improvements over a preceding record I’ve heard in a while. Deftones are the great survivors of the nu-metal generation of bands, and one of the few bands in that era that possessed high artistic credibility. After releasing purposeful records like 2000’s highly influential ‘White Pony’, and 2010’s emotional onslaught ‘Diamond Eyes’, Deftones finally got old with 2016’s ‘Gore’. It was a boring record made by veterans who knows how to make their trademark sound without actually writing any songs.

‘Ohms’ turns this around by turning routine into craft. Yes, all the Deftones staples are here and nothing is exactly new, but it’s particularly well-executed this time. It still sounds like five guys that should play in different bands whilst still getting it to oddly gel. Somehow, all these aloof “dreamy yet heavy” songs combined makes a pretty decent record.

Singer Chino Moreno still sings like he’s in a The Cure cover band and lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter has added yet another string, and is now playing a 9-stringed guitar throughout the album. That 9-stringed guitar in all of its excessive superfluity is a little hard to take seriously sometimes. It’s like he’d rather be in Meshuggah but lacks the chops, so he has to be in Deftones. But in Deftones, none of the music really demands such a large register of guitar strings. He might as well just tune down or play bass. What really makes this record sound good is actually not the silly guitarist, its low-key keyboardist Frank Delgado. Many of the highlights are his vintage Oberheim sounding tones, played like Blade Runner is his favorite movie of all time.

Deftones will no doubt continue on their long-running trek as one of the most divisive bands in metal, and ‘Ohms’ will not change the mind of anyone in this division. Those who see Deftones as a musically deep and eclectic band will enjoy this record immensely. Likewise, those that haven’t enjoyed their brand of atmospheric and sensitive metal earlier will most likely not enjoy this either.