Ohms - Deftones: Review
are a California Nu Metal band who released some of the genres most essential material during it's heyday in the late 90's and early 2000's. The band hasn;t slouched since then as they continue to release attention grabbing music highlighted by fan favorite 2012 album Koi No Yokan. Ohms is the bands 9th record and it's intro and outro tracks were released as singles leading up the the record.
Review By Lavender:
While I wouldn't consider myself a Deftones die hard I am by all means a fan. The bands seminal 2000 record White Pony is one of my favorite alt metal albums of all time and I agree with many fans about Koi No Yokan. That being said outside of some of their best records I think the band is just okay and their previous album 2016's Gore left me more bored than anything else. Thankfully Ohms is an improvement and even if it isn't an instant classic like White Pony I do get flashes of the bands greatness at points on the record.
The records lead single and closing track Ohms really excited me when it was released as a single a few weeks ago. The guitar riffs are crushing but detailed and work perfectly alongside the soaring vocal harmonies. I haven't enjoyed a Deftones song this much in years and it remains my favorite track on the album. That being said there are still a few tracks here I also really enjoyed. Error has one of my favorite hooks on the entire record that transitions from chugging guitars and snappy drumming on the verses into a more blissful sound palette for the hook. It's a thrilling experience that I enjoyed time and time again. The Link Is Dead is one of the hardest hitting songs here even though I think it could have had even more room for a heavier mix. The bullet drumming and near silent passages make way for major sonic explosions that are incredibly rewarding. With a variety of guitar tones on display and some of the albums most confrontational vocals the result is a highlight. Radiant City is another heavy ass track with crashing drums and a solid hook. While I wouldn't call any of the songwriting necessarily instantaneous it's throttling from start to finish and became one of my favorite songs to return to on consecutive listens.
While I don't hate many tracks here there are a lot of decent songs with pretty significant problems, the most prominent of which is either dry vocal mixing or uninteresting hook writing. The second single Genesis kicks the record off with a dense mix highlighted by blistering lead guitars. The snarling vocals sound full of contempt though I can't help but wish the song didn't transition into the far more boring lighter passages. While it may keep the song from getting stale at 5 minutes I think it would have been improved without them. Urantia is a pretty great song aside from the really underwhelming vocals. The explosive guitars help create a pretty crushing effect when the waves of sound emerge and I think it goes over pretty well. With vocals that had any impact at all this would definitely have been one of my favorite songs on the record. Pompeji has a loud quiet loud dynamic that really works, I only wish the hook was better written. The pounding instrumentation and screamed vocals sound great but the progression of the hook comes off very awkward. The track has a pretty solemn extended instrumental outro that I honestly vibe with in the context of the album and helps make the song a more tolerable moment in the records progression.
Despite what may be a pretty solid foundation of songwriting two decades into their career, there are definitely some misses on the record too. Ceremony doesn't do much for me even though I admire the songs instrumental density. The main problem I have with it is the really sloppy and seemingly random songwriting as it slides from one refrain to another aimlessly. The vocals are straight out of Smashing Pumpkins but with enough distortion laced over top that they become nearly lifeless. The Spell Of Mathmatics hits the ground running but never really does anything significant as it goes on for 5 minutes. The vocals are once again underwhelming and despite a few raging moments there isn't enough here to keep me hooked. Finally Headless is the most awkward song on the record with an instrumental that doesn't fit with the vocals at all. The transitions are so seemingly random that they make passages feel unfinished all over the place. I'm not sure what went wrong on this track but none of it is meshing well and I don't really understand what they were going for.
Ohms isn't terrible but it is very inconsistent. From one track to another it's hard to tell exactly what you're going to get and the record splits time between great highlights and forgettable averages. If you're a fan of the band you should expect a handful of these songs to wow you, but go into it knowing that this is far from the best set of tracks the band ever wrote. 5.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
I really enjoy this cover. It's a great concept and keeps your eye moving in its minimalistic composition, when you look closer it still keeps your interest even though it's just dots. The imagery is nice and I like that it's off center leaving some breathing room in the side. The black border around it is also strong and keeps everything contained and concise. This also has the ability to play with different foreground and background colors to have more fun with any branding. 7.5/10
For more alternative metal check out my review of Marilyn Manson's We Are Chaos here
