I am shocked that this band has zero written reviews at the time of writing. This is an excellent melodeath record with great guitar work across the board and beautiful vocals. The front half edges out the back half in terms of quality, but it's still a very strong project.

Favorite Tracks: Through It All, The Hate I Bear, Some Day, Break Myself Away, The Last Time
Least Favorite Track: Believe

For what it lacks in compelling or engaging instrumentation, it attempts to make up for with sheer personality. The synths most notably create something unlike anything I've heard in nu metal, and they compliment the melancholic atmosphere of Joey Biro's vocals. Uniqueness only carries them so far however, as after the first few tracks they end up ranging from middling to good.

Favorite Tracks: Liberate, Empire, False Idols
Least Favorite Tracks: Will the Change, Dear Enemy, ... read more

Both bonus tracks are welcome additions, they don't feel out of place coming before "My Shadow" and are just as good as the original tracks, especially "Smut King".

Thrash metal mixed with groove and melodic death to create a consistently energetic, heavy, and criminally overlooked listening experience. I'm a fan of Peter Dolving's unrelenting vocals across the majority of the track list, though the quieter and more brooding moments are somewhat weak.

Favorite Tracks: No Compromise, 99, Sabotage, Liquid Burns
Least Favorite Tracks: Who Will Decide, Nothing Right, My Shadow

Jamming about millions, motherfuckers, and just about any other superficial topic frequented by nu metal groups, it manages to scrape by with a handful of fun tracks with the rest being more or less par for the course. The shallowness of the writing is drilled into the listener's head thanks to how overly repetitious they are.

Favorite Tracks: South Texas Deathride, Turn Me on "Mr. Deadman", Trip With Jesus
Least Favorite Tracks: Killing The Fly, Natural High, The Friend Song

Deftones builds upon the foundation laid by 'Ohms' and 'Koi No Yokan' with a cohesive and spiritual journey that shows the group playing at their strengths, all the while creating its own identity while fulfilling any and all expectations. Focused and beautiful, it's the best project the band has released in over a decade.

Favorite Tracks: my mind is a mountain, locked club, infinite source, souvenir, i think about you all the time, milk of the madonna, departing the ... read more

They circle back to something more familiar here and don't disappoint. Exploring the human struggle with stagnation, monotony, and seemingly uncontrollable constants, they're able to create a varied yet balanced experience that starts and finishes strongly. The struggles are conveyed through what are well-worn topics for Deftones at this point, and they don't quite reach their highest point, but it's a surely enjoyable heavy and atmospheric listen.

Favorite Tracks: Genesis, ... read more

Coming in with a far rougher and more abrasive sound than their past several works, the band experiments with new ideas through themes of frustration, obsession, and fear. Although it features consistent lyrical expressions in the form of geometry, the expressions themselves are about as vague as the previous album's writing. The more aggressive tone taps into something adjacent to their debut effort, though more tempered with worse mixing. Its ideas don't feel as fleshed out as they ... read more

Utilizing the similar approach from their self-titled album of playing it safe, Deftones delivers more of the same ethereal sound they're known for with little innovation. That being said, the execution of said approach is much better here, with the overwhelming majority of tracks living up to expectations. The writing leaves less to the imagination, and none of the songs are complete masterpieces, but it's a solid effort through and through.

Favorite Tracks: Swerve City, Leathers, ... read more

Suffering from the loss of Chi Cheng, the band pays their respects and doesn't lose step. Being their most upbeat and sexual album yet, they continue to innovate and expand upon their melodic sound with plenty of darker cuts while sticking to familiar topics.

Favorite Tracks: Diamond Eyes, CMND/CTRL, Beauty School, Prince, Sextape, Risk, 976-EVIL, This Place Is Death

Bouncing back from a brief moment of stagnation, the band takes their internal creative struggles and flips them into a consistently beautiful and ethereal experience. It's their most melodic album yet, though the energy is toned down a bit. There is a hiccup when "Pink Cellphone" comes on, but it's quickly washed away.

Favorite Tracks: Hole in the Earth, Beware, Cherry Waves, Mein, Xerces, Combat, Kimdracula, Rivière
Least Favorite Track: Pink Cellphone

Their self-titled album fittingly provides a sound Deftones are well known for at this point, but it doesn't do any of it better than their previous efforts. Chino's vocals have a noticeably whinier, almost droning quality and the mixing is quite muddied, with everything blending together. When something more experimental is offered, it's underdeveloped and lackluster. Despite these flaws, it's still an enjoyable, if familiar record with interesting lyrical ... read more

"Back to School" is one of my favorite tracks, a much better opener than "Feiticeira".

Shifting focus away from the screaming and rapping of nu metal and towards their more melodic influences does them a lot of favors here, showcasing a side mostly suppressed up until now. Featuring a multitude of songs about relationships, anxiety, and the titular white pony, the listener dives deep into the band's minds with amazing atmosphere.

Favorite Tracks: Digital Bath, Elite, Rx Queen, Knife Prty, Passenger, Change (In the House of Flies)

Beautifully aggressive, moody, and sexual, the band really comes into their own. Full of wonderfully creepy and eerie moments balanced by melodic and raw vocals, this is a standout among nu metal. "Damone" should be separated into its own track.

Favorite Tracks: My Own Summer (Shove It), Lhabia, Around the Fur, Headup, MX, Damone

Great debut, their unique energy is readily apparent and consistently enjoyable throughout the entire album. The production is imperfect and some of the earlier tracks feel like they're missing something small, but everything holds a lot of promise.

Favorite Tracks: Bored, Minus Blindfold, Root, 7 Words, Engine No. 9

Very good nu metal, lots of frantic and aggressive moments with some softer, more pleasant vocals scattered throughout. The second half isn't quite as good as the first, but it's still a mostly consistent project.

Favorite Tracks: We the People, Rope, Still Life, Wither Away, Step into the Sideshow, Falling Down, Power Tool

Wes' vocals are somewhat grating and the lyrics are downright stupid at times, though the actual content of the album passes by in a blur of samey-sounding post-grunge. "She Hates Me" and "Piss It All Away" are both obnoxious for different reasons, the former being sickeningly upbeat and the latter being extremely repetitive and boring. The rest ranges from average to good.

Favorite Track: Blurry
Least Favorite Tracks: She Hates Me, Piss It All Away

Generic rock. The writing isn't great, and none of the songs do anything particularly interesting for more than a split second. Still, it is mostly mildly enjoyable, and it's got a few catchy bits.

Favorite Track: Paralyzer

Pretty good thrash metal debut, though it doesn't contain many "great" moments. There were some riffs I didn't like and I'm not a big fan of John Connelly's vocals but they're not the worst. The tracks under a minute don't add much to the album but they're alright.

Favorite Tracks: Cold Steel, Radiation Sickness