Deftones - Ohms
Critic Score
Based on 30 reviews
2020 Ratings: #21 / 871
Year End Rank: #32
User Score
2020 Rank: #153
Liked by 312 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Metal Injection

Scintillating, uplifting, unfathomably atmospheric, and masterfully detailed. This is, yet again, Deftones at their best.

100
Upset
With a layered intricacy that sets them apart and delivers something new on every listen, ‘Ohms’ isn’t just Deftones at their finest - it’s one of the standout albums of the year.
100
NME

The band's reunion with producer Terry Date results in an album that's as thrilling – and as emotional – as they have ever sounded.

100
Distorted Sound

Ohms is proof that they up their energy levels with each release, and is exactly why they’re still one of the best bands in the game. It is an unimaginable idea that DEFTONES can deliver anything less than true greatness.

100
Louder Than War

In Ohms, Deftones have delivered a futuristic masterclass in heavy alt-metal; brutal, gentle, cinematic and beautiful.

100
Sputnikmusic

After two and a half decades, Deftones are still finding new ways to energize, enrage, and inspire themselves – and with Ohms, they’re finding new ways to peak.

91
Consequence of Sound

Ohms breaks that trend, with more focused songs, and a renewed love of hard-rocking guitar riffs that may rekindle the band’s relationship with fans that jumped ship after White Pony.

90
DIY

A masterclass in grandiose ferocity, the album harks back to the urgency of their early days and collides with the expansive melodies that underpinned much of their more recent output.

90
Spill Magazine

Front to back, Ohms is a sonic journey and, in many ways, is among the most ambitious collections of music from Deftones which makes for a very strong case for the title of Album Of The Year.

90
Gigwise

Overall, Ohms is a transcendental body of work that perfectly amalgamates the beauty and brutality of Deftones' sound – satisfying the tastes of fans both old and new.

90
Exclaim!
This album offers 10 pummelling songs and though it may not have been written with the intent to do so, it serves as a perfect musical embodiment of this year: a seemingly endless vessel of dread, despair and existential crisis.
90
AllMusic
Playing upon the concepts of resistance and polarity implied by the album's title, Deftones take their signature beauty-meets-brutality assault, searching for balance across a tightly focused ten tracks.
90
PopMatters

It's quite rare when a band discovers new abilities this late in the game. In terms of epic grandeur, though, Ohms somehow surpasses even the band's most ambitious middle-period work.

90
XS Noize
The world they create on it is compelling, latching on to unpredictability as they display a willingness to mix things up throughout – they thrive in a state of constant flux, and their ninth album finds them sounding as fired-up as ever.
85
The Line of Best Fit

There’s only so far you can pull in different directions before something snaps and, on the evidence provided by Ohms, Deftones are beginning the twenties on a much more musically conciliatory note than the one they struck four years ago.

82
Beats Per Minute

With a wide range of enjoyment coming from each cut, Ohms further cements Deftones as the premier mainstream rock band to reinvent themselves every decade.

80
musicOMH

There’s a reason why Deftones are called ‘the Radiohead of metal’, and with albums like this it’s easier than ever to see what that reason is – they are one of the most creative, forward-thinking bands on the planet. 

80
Classic Rock

None of this is a major reinvention, but then Deftones have always been about big steps rather than giant leaps. And even then the rest of the field remains way behind them.

80
The Forty-Five
Moreno still wears emotion like the smudged eyeliner of the emo bands Deftones paved the way for.
80
Kerrang!

Overall, Ohms is a transcendental body of work that perfectly amalgamates the beauty and brutality of Deftones' sound – satisfying the tastes of fans both old and new.

80
Metal Hammer

Ohms is an album for every type of Deftones fan. Whether you’re longing for the days of Around The Fur or if you appreciated the more measured material on Gore there will be something that you’ll love. In taking an extensive tour of their past, Deftones continue to be essential today.

80
Uncut
Their ninth album is a welcome reminder of the nuance of their formula; it's at times crushingly heavy, but there's a cerebral knottiness to the arrangements, and Chino Moreno's vocals boasts a windswept melancholy harking back to the new romantics.
80
Clash

A must-listen for those who like their metal with depth and mystery.

80
Under the Radar

Ohms is a gigantic undertaking that is fit for a band with even bigger ambitions. At this point in their career, Deftones have nothing to prove to anyone but themselves. Their latest work of art is simply a reminder of their greatness.

80
Paste

Arguably, Ohms is at first blush nothing new for Deftones. What it is is an engrossing refinement of what they’ve become over years of risk-taking and experimentation.

76
Pitchfork

For the first time—after years of strife and a hard-fought comeback in 2016’s Gore—Deftones are making it look easy.

70
No Ripcord

So, is Ohms the return to form that meets expectations? Well, yes, even if the tunes haven't changed so much as the vastly-superior production has.

60
The Guardian

The Sacramento band’s ninth album streamlines their experimentalism and adds a hit of 90s nu-metal.

30
The Needle Drop

At its worst, Ohms is some of the most aggravating music Deftones has ever recorded. At its best, it's the band painting-by-numbers.

CLJesse
92

#FuckMelonPraisePunkRev

What can I say? I'm a stan!

There are few bands that make me as happy as Deftones does. Their iconic blend of shoegaze and alt metal is truly something that will stop wowing me. Not only do I just love their general sound, this particular record contains some of the band's heaviest material yet, but also some of their most ambient and atmospheric. Ohms isn't on the same level as some of their best albums, but it's absolutely a welcomed and masterful addition to their ... read more

Hawk_
96

I'm transcending and crying at the same time, this isn't supposed to be scientifically possible.

Well now that I'm the second most liked review on this album, I feel more obligated to talk more about this. This album grips you during its 46 minute runtime and never lets you go for a second. It's so heavy yet so atmospheric. People like to compare this album to others in their discog, "ooh this sounds like KNY and SNW and S/T and blah blah blah". Honestly, this sounds like its own ... read more

TreyLikesBands
62

Ohms My Gods (or, Symphony of Dots)

Don’t fuck with Deftones, you’ll get the shit beat out of you.
They know how to hold a cascading and beautiful melody over the harshest guitar chords known to alternative metal. Hell, they practically evolved that genre by themselves. Project after project, they are clear in their outlook, and think critically upon their output.

On “Ohms”, their magnificence is heightened as every band member puts their all into these 10 tracks. And ... read more

JacksonIsNoided
83

A major improvement from the previous record. One of Fantano’s wackiest takes

silasf1539
86

fantano was wrong

agapanthus
78

I've never been a huge fan of Deftones, but if this is where their sound is going, I'm excited for things to come. My favourite Deftones record yet - really feel they perfected the metal-shoegaze-dreampop blend here. Surprised this wasn't received better by fans and critics tbh.

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Track List

1Genesis
5:17
87
2Ceremony
3:27
85
3Urantia
4:30
84
4Error
4:50
82
5The Spell of Mathematics
5:27
81
6Pompeji
5:25
80
7This Link Is Dead
4:37
83
8Radiant City
3:35
81
9Headless
4:59
81
10Ohms
4:10
90
Total Length: 46 minutes
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Added on: August 19, 2020