Inimitable vocalist Chino Moreno sounds ferocious, flitting between a scorching scream, a disembodied croon, and a full blown soaring chorus with ease.

Opener ‘Genesis’ creeps in with a swarming synth that makes way for a soft, delayed guitar line, before an extremely satisfying feedback / stick-click combo leads us into a crushing downtuned riff. So where does ninth album ‘Ohms’ fit in to such an intimidating pantheon? Their consistency is pretty much unrivalled if you asked 100 people to put their eight studio albums in order of preference, you’d likely get every possible answer at least once, depending on what each individual looks for in a Deftones record. They’re a band that people respect even if they aren’t fans, largely because they’ve always forged their own path and have never allowed themselves to get mired in passing musical trends like a lot of their peers have over the years. Chino’s vocals are warm, rich, and clear, and Stephen’s guitar really slices through each track- all supported by Abe’s punchy drumming and Chengs present basswork (really nice to be able to hear and feel the bass in these recordings! *cough* gore *cough*) Terry Date’s production work is great too, and in 2020 it was a nice return to form with his contribution on Ohms.Deftones burst onto the scene in 1995 with their debut album ‘Adrenaline’, and have been one of the biggest bands in alternative music ever since. Almost not surface noise present here, and the sound is amazing and dynamic. The record was pressed nice and flat, and the labels are really pretty in white (no idea why they changed from the original color, but ce la vie). Was lucky enough to score a copy for $25 on here recently, and boy was it worth it.

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