Album Review: Deftones - 'Ohms'
The metal masters, the alternative adepts, the experimental experts; the legends that are Deftones are back with Ohms, their ninth studio album, and one that fully showcases what it is that makes them just so ineffably, undeniably great.
Deftones are a band known for being consistently consistent. Each album, although retaining its own little niche identity in their extensive back catalogue, is wholly theirs; even 2016’s ‘Gore’, which saw at least a partial departure from their usual, experimental, heavier metal sound to one a little more ethereally haunting, is unmistakably Deftones — just, perhaps, a Deftones more accessible for outsiders. And Ohms is no different. Each song is lovingly, painstakingly crafted into broken shards of perfection; jagged yet beautiful.
Diving straight into the album, Ohms opens with what seems almost like a summation of their thirty plus years of experience and knowledge: Genesis. A fitting name, for a song reflecting a band transitioning from old to new. Their ever-present synth and hauntingly soft guitars reverberate and echo into oblivion, while the riff seems to be something straight out of 2012’s Koi No Yokan; snarls turn into hushed whispers, as it all builds to a powerful crescendo — and suddenly, Chino’s cry that he has “finally acheive[d] balance”, seems well-founded, if a little premature. Ultimately, the track is left just off kilter enough to retain an innate, unsettling feel. But what’s a Deftones album without that delectable tinge of discordance?
Each song is brilliant. In ‘Ceremony’, Deftones embody two extremes: mesmerisingly meandering one moment, ferociously fiery the next. Chino’s screams of “it’s an illusion” over brief patches of mono-note guitar riffs are particularly poignant in their (blessedly unforced) angst. The still ever-so-slightly discordant harmonies in the chorus makes it almost difficult to listen to, and thus makes the song all the more rewarding on each and every listen; meanwhile, Urantia goes one step further, starting with a furious riff, a gut punch for the ears, that ends as quickly as it begins. The contrast leaves you stunned, floundering in a sudden abyss; abandoning you to float untethered into nothingness. The use of dynamics here is truly astounding, and a credit to them all.
But, if Urantia leaves you untethered, Mathematics truly shreds any connection you have left to reality. Unlike the afore mentioned three, Mathematics is distinctly, almost cloyingly immersive. It zones you out and washes over you; the outro, particularly — the echoing bass and snapped fingers, all drenched in reverb — is relentlessly smothering in its sound. Chino’s echoing vocals slither past Abe’s thunderous drums and creates a soundscape that surrounds you, suffocates you.
Elsewhere, the near whispered vocals in Error, over instrumentals almost reminiscent of The Smiths’ ‘How Soon Is Now?’, offer a taste of desperation as the persona Chino adapts seeks escape, “beyond the gates/ outside the grid”. “Are we just lost” he asks, helplessly, as the sound fades away.
Yet it is on Pompeii, the sixth track of the album, that Ohms really comes into its own. Within the first few seconds, the song sets itself up for triumph; a perfectly pitched contrast between light, major chords and the dark, oppressive depths of the guitar foreshadows the oncoming desperation, as the song erupts with the riff into desperate, blasphemous calls into the darkness. The juxtaposition in tone between major and minor reflects the good and evil inside all of us— the cries of the damned, then, reflect a generation abandoned to hell on Earth: at one point, driven to eruption, Chino, towards the heavens, cries “Jesus Christ we hold you to blame/ You gave your life but we died in vain’. The echoing synth at the end, then, seems to show a generation left pulsing in the darkness. A very existential track, and a personal highlight.
In the same way, This Link Is Dead is sure to please anyone missing their out and out brutality; the self-accusatory lyrics alone are almost cruel in their screamed honesty, with the gentle let downs of the chorus almost snatched moments to breathe. You can almost hear the panic, visualise the spittle flying from a broken face as Chino roars “take your ideas and fucking have some fun”. Needless to say, Deftones are certainly enjoying themselves here.
The violent energy refuses to relent. Radiant City, as much as anything, acts almost as a vehicle for Carpenter to utilise his new nine-string guitar, the existence of which is in and of itself incredible; throughout the whole track, there is little escape from his heavy guitar work. It’s prominence soundtracks Chino’s creation as he approaches breaking point, drawing ever closer to the ledge; vocals fractured as he cries for a sign.
Unlike the heady, hectic heaviness of those few, though, penultimate Headless is slower, almost contemplative — still crushingly heavy, but more scalpel like in precision, rather than a mallet. Spacious and dark, it acts almost as a callback to 2010’s Diamond Eyes in how it feels. “They’d like to violate our brainwaves”, Chino oozes over a dark and somber guitar line, an almost defeated surrender to the oppressively low bass line.
Rounding it all off is title track and lead single Ohms. Comfortably the most accessible song on the album, it is unexpectedly catchy, with an ensnaring guitar groove that transitions from triumphantly positive to almost sneeringly dark, as the song thunders inexorably past. It is infinitely more traditional in its brooding instrumental, and is the perfect way to end the band’s ninth studio album.
Ohms is magnificent. Working with the same producer as their first few albums, Terry Date, leads Deftones to a shared sound over the album that encompasses their entire discography, an impressive feat for three decades of experimentation. Chino is on point as ever, flitting between hoarse howling and hushed whispers; Abe’s drumming is sublime, note perfect, whilst remaining just subtle enough to not draw your focus; and Frank Delgado adds just enough extra notes throughout to give each and every track an added depth. An incredible album, Ohms offers up anything a Deftones fan could dream of and more.
Words by James O’Sullivan