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Deftones: Koi no yokan
07/01/13 || BamaHammer
In a nutshell, this is actually a pretty good album and easily the best thing that Deftones have given us since their self-titled fourth album back in 2003 (the one with the skull and roses on the cover). However, if you’re anything like me, your musical tastes have evolved by now to a point where something like Deftones just won’t satiate your innate need for deeper musical experience. Whereas the me of a decade ago would’ve raved about how great this album is, the older, wiser me just knows it’s not that great. Good, sure, but not great. However, if you liked “The White Pony” (and LOVED that fucker) or “Deftones”, then by all means, check this out. You’ll get a kick out of more than a couple of tracks, at least for a little while. And most of you can stop reading this here review right there.
If you want to know a little more, I’ll be happy to give you a little more. First off, the production sounds like a convincing replica of “Deftones”. Steph Carpenter’s guitars just sound massive and fuzzy, and that creates a wall of super-simple, down-tuned, drop-D’d riffs that are catchy and just work for the most part. They lay down a huge, solid foundation for Chino Moreno just to do what Chino does, which is wail over the top of everything and sing lyrics that you can’t tell if they’re twisted, perverted, or just dumb. The drumming is simple but groovy, and the bass is very convincing, persistent rumble. Does that sound like a Deftones record to you? Sounds like one to me.
The relieving part, at least to me, is that the meandering, directionless song structures of the last couple of albums has been replaced with more traditional Deftones songwriting which features more of a focus on belting the catchy choruses and interesting breakdown parts. “Diamond eyes” and that “Saturday night wrist” albums just never gave themselves any chance whatsoever to be embraced simply because the songs had no memorable moments. On “Koi no yokan”, however, it just seems like ever song has a part that’s instantly catchy, and you don’t have to actually hear the song to remember it. That’s a beautiful concept.
So, why the average score? Well, honestly, this album is catchy and enjoyable (even though it loses a lot of steam toward the end), but my nu metal ship has sailed. Not to sound like an elitist dickhead, but my tastes are just past Deftones and all other stuff like this by now. I know I won’t be listening to this in a month’s time. I’ll probably be listening to some weird Romanian black metal from 8 years ago or something. “Koi no yokan” did provide some excellent nostalgia though, and for that, I’m grateful to Deftones, a band I once loved. If you ever had any affinity whatsoever to these guys and their brand of music, listen through this one a few times.
- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Reprise
- Website: www.deftones.com
- Band
- Chino Moreno: vocals, guitar
- Stephen Carpenter: guitar
- Sergio Vega: bass
- Frank Delgado: samples, keyboards
- Abe Cunningham: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Swerve City
- 02. Romantic Dreams
- 03. Leathers
- 04. Poltergeist
- 05. Entombed
- 06. Graphic Nature
- 07. Tempest
- 08. Gauze
- 09. Rosemary
- 10. Goon Squad
- 11. What Happened to You?
