Deftones : "private music"

Five years is the longest gap between Detones' albums, and here we are, after the band sorted through some shit and wrote new music. The first song, "my mind is a mountain", which is the lead single from this album, Everyone was stoked to hear big loud guitars again, but let's be real, and clarify the fact that the chug of guitar here is different than the chug of guitar from "Around the Fur". It's understandable since it's been 30 years since "Adrenaline" came out, even Iron Maiden became a different band 30 years into their career. What has worked in this band's favor is their fan base grew with them, which kept these guys relevant over the years, instead of getting lumped in with the other nu-metal bands.  "locked club" finds big, deliberate guitar not unlike what we heard on the previous song, as they kind play around the throb of the song with some intersting drums keeping things moving. 

"ecdysis" has a little more groove, more comparable to the direction they went on "White Pony." The bass feels like it is generally lower in the mix, which factors into why it might not sound as heavy. really low in the mix. To Chno's credit, is is singing with a little more balls in his voice. Granted, around here, where I am reviewing bands like Harms Way and Nails, the bar is high for aggressive vocalization. "infinite source" has a more defined rif than what we have heard from them in a while. Chino goes back to the vocalizations we have come to expect from him post--"White Pony". 

"souvenir" is a middle-of-the-road balance of what they do these days; there is atmosphere, but with a more Hum-like drive to it. "cXz" has a little more gas in the tank, but the swirl of guitar sounds also takes them in a more shoegaze direction, nothing new in that regard either. When you play this album loud through headphones, it sounds best and brings out the effects on the vocals and some of the electronic sounds bubbling under. "i think about you" is a shoegazing song that does find them stomping on the distortion, to cause a dynamic shift, but it is not the album's most exciting song. They rock out more on "milk of the madonna" which has a grooving bounce to it that is a step back in the direction of the nu-metal their original fan band fell in love with. 

"cut hands" is a step even further toward nu-metal as Chino takes on a more aggressive almsot rapped vocal for the song. It's pretty "Angel Dust" era Faith No More influenced, but also one of the best songs on the album. "metal dream" also features more rapped vocals. But rather than going into explosive screaming, it soars off into a shoegaze riff. "departing the body" starts with a lower vocal and a more strummed ballad feel before building into their more expected sound. While this is heavier than most of their post-"White Pony" material, it's not metal, nor have they wanted to be metal in decades, so that is fine. The important thing is that the songwriting feels more inspired and less dialed in. There are only two songs that did not work for me on my initial listen, or at least did not feel they were at the level of the other songs on this album, so I will give this one a 9.5, as they delivered the goods. It's not a perfect album, but it will likely grow on me. 

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