And in a curious parallel with the current global landscape, the heavier sections paint a picture of impending doom while the softer elements offer a glimmer of hope. Each track is a journey to the polar extremes of our very existence we’re catapulted from heaven to hell, as the songs sweep majestically between armageddon heavy to achingly sweet. Frontman Moreno’s vocals shift from frenzied-banshee to smooth-crooner in a breath, and it’s that trademark bitter/sweet juxtapose, which Deftones are masters of, that is ever-present on Ohms. Like the apocalypse, Stephen Carpenter’s razor riffs explode across Frank Delgado’s fizzling pads, while Abe Cunningham and Sergio Vega’s driving bass/percussion combo underpins the colossal soundscape. The record that vocalist Chino Moreno says had the band ‘firing on all cylinders’, is their ninth studio album spanning their 32-year career.Ī moody Pink Floyd-esque intro teases as opening track, Genesis, unfolds. OK, it’s still a shit year but, you know, a bit better now… Rising from the pandemic like a phoenix from the smouldering ashes, Deftones drop their first album in four years and all of a sudden 2020 isn’t such a bad year. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 in 2016, moving over 71,000 units first week and marking DEFTONES‘ highest chart position in 13 years.Deftones release their first album since 2016’s Gore, but has the wait been worth it? Paul Grace finds out. The Live Nation-produced 20-date trek with GOJIRA and POPPY was scheduled to kick off on July 27 and conclude on September 5. This past May, DEFTONES postponed their 2020 North American tour due to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe. He added: “When the record came out, I think people felt that Stef wasn’t as big a part of it and that it may have suffered in certain areas because of that, so one of the most important things is that everybody is engaged and everybody is excited.”ĭEFTONES is Moreno, Carpenter, drummer Abe Cunningham, programmer Frank Delgado and bassist Sergio Vega. A perfect example would be ‘Gore’, when Stef basically admitted, like, ‘I didn’t have much to do with this record.’ And that was not because we didn’t want him - my favorite ideas of DEFTONES songs are ones that he spearheads.” “When you’ve made a lot of records with the same people, everybody has to be engaged,” Moreno said. All of the above assembles and sets the stage to deliver “Ohms” 10 tracks of raw escapism and unparalleled grooves that have made DEFTONES‘ sound singular for over two decades.ĭEFTONES singer Chino Moreno told Kerrang! magazine that “ Ohms“ was a more collaborative effort than “Gore”, which saw guitarist Stephen Carpenter largely excluded from the production process.
The album also boasts a familiar collaborator in veteran producer and engineer Terry Date, who worked on 1995’s “Adrenaline”, 1997’s “Around The Fur” and 2000’s “White Pony”. The band, which includes Chino Moreno, Frank Delgado, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham and Sergio Vega, has produced a dense LP with every member firing on all cylinders. It is a magnificent tour de force and their first album in four years since the critically acclaimed “Gore” LP in 2016. Recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles, California and Trainwreck Studios in Woodinville, Washington, “ Ohms“ is an otherworldly body of work meticulously crafted by the five-piece band.