It’s fun to hear the guy let loose rough screeches, but his singing here is on another level. And whether it’s during the more intense portions of the record, or the soothing sequences stirred by Frank Delgado’s samples and keyboarding, Chino Moreno maintains his angelic, breathy vocal quality. Providing his own distinct imprint on the band’s sound, drummer Abe Cunningham performs in equal waves of gentleness and frenetic stomps. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter opts for a nine-string guitar for his parts on the record, playing chunky tones alongside the Sergio Vega’s basslines. His work captures the blissful ambiance and surrealism of the band’s past material, infusing a nostalgic quality into the record.
It also likely helps that Terry Date-who produced the first four Deftones records and is partially responsible for helping to shape some of their strongest sounding albums-returns here for production duties. Very little of the album is straightforward, as little of the band’s material has been for the past 20 years. This chemistry makes for a compelling sequence throughout the whole of Ohms. Likewise, “Pompeji” offers moments where the guitar booms and drumming intensifies, only to then simmer and ease. On the flourishing energy of “Genesis” and the lo-fi heaviness of “Headless,” a delightful back-and-forth takes place. By embracing this psychedelic force, Deftones strike an appealing complexity that’s both entertaining and hypnotic. The record flows at a mesmerizing pace, instrumentation dipping into a heavier metal approach before shifting back into an ambient backdrop. An early element that works in Ohms’ favor, however, is the progression of the songwriting. The 25-year history of the band and what they’ve accomplished therein gives new album Ohms a lot to live up to. Though this alone doesn’t make them unique, a profound aspect to Deftones’ material is their unique duality-specifically, their ability to weave dreamy atmosphere into their heavy core. From 2000’s White Pony onward, Deftones’ discography encapsulates a broad spectrum from riff-driven metal to electronic, to shoegaze and pop.
Where 1995’s Adrenaline leaned into pure groove metal, the band’s sophomore release, Around The Fur, displayed the first signs of experimentation with their craft. Deftones first emerged during the nu metal boom of the ’90s, but they’ve since grown into a musical force that defies easy classification.
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