Reviews list for Deftones - Ohms (2020)

In many ways I was spared the discomfort of having to experience the nu metal revolution in the second half of the 1990’s & early 2000’s. I wasn’t even aware of it during the height of my mid-90’s extreme metal obsession as I was stuck in a bubble of brutality that didn’t allow me to see much of the outside world & by the end of the decade I’d eschewed metal as a whole in favour of exciting new horizons within the realms of electronic music. It wasn’t until I returned to metal in 2009 that I even became aware of Deftones & even then I was hesitant given my limited experience with nu metal on the radio & Deftones’ obviously misguided choice of band names. But given the consistently positive critical opinion on many of Deftones releases I finally decided to give them a crack around 2010 & was very pleasantly surprised by what I found. “Diamond Eyes” wasn’t half bad & it encouraged me to progressively investigate the band’s back catalogue, an exercise that saw me quickly reaching the realization that Deftones links to nu metal were really only realistic when referring to their heavily overrated 1995 debut album “Adrenaline”. The rest of their discography offered me a much more sophisticated take on alternative metal that I found plenty of appeal in, particularly the enigmatic classic that is 2000’s “White Pony” which I regard as a shining beacon of creativity & one of the most essential releases from the subgenre overall. Some of Deftones’ other albums were presented in very similar formats in that you would find them to sound quite familiar upon first listen however the class of the execution & the strength of their hooks would generally shine through & you’d ultimately end up feeling that each album possessed its own unique personality, despite sounding definitively like Deftones. Strangely, I haven’t kept track of the band’s last couple of albums as I seem to have retreated into another bubble over the last decade (let’s just call it Metal Academy, shall we?) so I was pretty keen to see what sort of trouble Chino & the boys had gotten themselves into since we last locked horns.

Upon my first listen to Deftones’ ninth album “Ohms” one thing became immediately evident. The return of producer Terry Date for his first collaboration with the band since 2003’s self-titled album was a master stroke. On a purely sonic level, “Ohms” has a vibrancy & vitality that artists outside of the top tier rarely achieve. Stephen Carpenter’s 7, 8 & 9 string guitars possess a crushing weight that wouldn’t seem out of place on a doom metal or djent release while the strummier open string parts ooze of energy & electricity. Carpenter & front man Chino Moreno have been fighting for the creative upper hand for their entire careers with Carpenter wanting to stay heavier & Moreno wanting to experiment with lighter textures however Carpenter seems to have won the battle on this occasion because “Ohms” is a very heavy record. The atmospheric & textural extravagances of “White Pony” are still clearly visible only they’re used more sparingly & by the end of the record you’re left with no doubts as to the metal credentials of Deftones’ latest outing. The shoegaze & dream pop influences of the past are not as relevant here, mainly because Date has given Moreno’s vocals a dirtier & more abrasive tone across a lot of this material & it suits the modern Deftones sound beautifully. Traditionally I’ve always found Chino’s style to remind me very much of Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan & My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields. He’s definitely maintained the similarities to Corgan but I’m not feeling the My Bloody Valentine vibe as strongly these days. Do we really want to imagine this 47 year-old man looking down at his feet with his fringe hanging over his face while he weeps into his microphone in 2020 though with rock music having suffered such injustice over the last couple of decades? On the evidence of my last live Deftones experience I’d suggest that Chino’s voice is probably not up to a consistently cleaner approach these days anyway.

Does “Ohms” fall into the trap of sounding like every other Deftones record? Well, yeah it definitely DOES sound exactly like Deftones doing what they do best & you’re not likely to mistake them for anyone else but if you look at it closely you’ll find that “Ohms” provides a really good summary of their career to date (with the possible exception of their ordinary debut). It takes inspiration from the best elements of the band’s previous works & presents itself as the sum of an impressively long career by showcasing everything that Deftones have learnt in their 25 years of recording music. It does it in fine style too with the band’s inimitable talent for creating genuinely memorable hooks being as evident as it’s ever been. Repeat listens see these tracks developing their own unique personalities very quickly & by the time your third spin is done you can very easily differentiate each of the tracks in your mind as you browse through the tracklisting with many of the catchy pre-choruses & choruses digging their teeth into your brain as if their lives depended on it. The heavier material appeals to me the most with the opening one-two punch of “Genesis” & “Ceremony” leaving me salivating for more & the stunning four-track sequence from “The Spell Of Mathematics” through to “Radiant City” taking full toll on my weakened state. The closing title track was selected as the first single from the album & I have to admit that I find that to be a strange decision because, although I really enjoy it, it’s possibly the least impressive of the ten tracks & it’s structure isn’t exactly reflective of what you can expect from the rest of the album. The more visceral & abrasive “This Link Is Dead” would have been a better option in my opinion as it would have thrown the cat well & truly amongst the pigeons with its incredible live energy.

“Ohms” is a triumphant flexing of Deftones’ creative muscles. It compiles all of the things that have seen me drawn to the band over the years & represents a clear statement that Deftones are far from a dinosauric dad rock band in 2020. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. It simply polishes the wheel, cleans the barings & puts some that black shit on the tyre so that the wheel looks really great & functions beautifully. Not only is “Ohms” relevant in a modern post-COVID world but it possesses a danger that few radio-friendly rock/metal bands have managed to achieve over the last few decades. The balance of hooks & heaviness is spot on & I’ll be very surprised if “Ohms” doesn’t go on to earn the same sort of notoriety as Deftones’ more highly regarded releases over the coming decade.

The hope that most Deftones fans have for a return to the White Pony era of the band is all but answered here, at least in a directional sense if not in a level of quality sense.  Ohms is a gazey affair with requisite breakdowns and emotive vocals to provide a near constant juxtaposition throughout.  Now, whilst this is probably their strongest release since Koi No Yokan, it is by no means a triumph given that it only has 2016's Gore to follow on from.  Overall, the feeling I get from Ohms is that it is an inoffensive and at times quite sterile sounding record.

This is were the comparisons with their crowning glory from twenty years ago start to flake away somewhat.  White Pony was a supercharged record both in terms of energy and emotion levels alike, it had enough "kaboom" in it to blow the pages of any superhero comic wide open and display textures and colours that were as vibrant as they were enticing.  It took art in a musical format and explored it, capturing a spectrum of feelings and experiences that spoke to the listener.  What happens with Ohms feels more like the listener is being spoken at and not to - like a lot of the content is just there for the hell of it.  Even on This Link Is Dead which for the most part is a raging track full of harsh vocals, it just feels like a poor man's version of a White Pony track.

There are no real textures here.  At its busiest, the guitar lacks bite and in the more ambient moments the vocals lack heart.  Yes, there's more than enough here to scratch the itch the diehard fans have had for the past two decades but the reality is that we're only getting one White Pony in our lifetime from these guys (which is something to be celebrated).

So the Deftones are back with a new record in 2020 and while I was excited about what we were going to get, I was also a bit nervous. For one, the band has fallen into the “same but different” category of music for the better part of the 2010s, with not that much distinguishing Koi no yokan from Diamond Eyes. The last decade also was not helped by an album in Gore that was atrociously produced.

So with Ohms, it is nice to see that Deftones have quickly gotten whatever that was out of their system as this record returns back to the cleaner production quality of White Pony et al. But it also might be the Deftones most straightforward and uninteresting project they have ever released.

Nothing really stands out on Ohms in comparison to records like Saturday Night Wrist. The shoegaze elements are aplenty here and mixed well amidst Chino’s vocals and very safe, but effective rhythm section in the bass and percussion. Perhaps this albums standout moments are when it starts to incorporate hardcore/djent breakdowns on “Urantia” and “Radiant City”, which I don’t think are the best look for Deftones. They feel out of place on an album that generally feels lush and subdued. Whereas these breakdown riffs are aggressive and “pummelling” for lack of a better word.

As it is though, it’s serviceable, but hardly standouts. It will satisfy longtime Deftones fans looking for that little bit of nostalgia circa White Pony twenty years ago. But will anything here grab my attention as “Digital Bath” and “Knife Prty” did on White Pony? I will be surprised if it does.