Ohms

DEFTONES | CHAPTER NINE

This album starts with a bang. The first three tracks on this album are some of the best tracks from the band, each of them being ridiculously heavy and memorable. Like the little “trap” section that lasts about eight seconds near the middle end of Urantia. That caught me way off guard and was a pleasant surprise. This album in general is a pleasant surprise, and in bringing back Terry Date (the man who produced their first four records, more importantly White Pony and Self Titled) we hear the band at peak form, which they most certainly were not at in the last album. Production is crisp (can get muddy occasionally but never sounds bad), the band is playing their heads off and wow Chino sounds great for 46 years old. Everyone is just playing up to par and they really sound focused again. I think the inclusion of Terry Date even made them experiment a little more (kinda crazy to believe they could even do that) with more ambient bits during and at the end of tracks and a lot of electronic play. It’s just a delight, man.

Oh, and choruses on here are some of the best the crew has cooked up in awhile, at least since the Self Titled days. Genesis, Ohms, and Error in particular are some of my favorite hooks, but you could really pick any of these hooks and be happy with them. They all sound sweet and kinda uplifting in contrast with the pulverizing heaviness of the verses. I will say, the album’s quality dips a little bit after the first three tracks but even then I’d say every track on here is at the very least good and enjoyable. Chino’s lyrics are pretty interesting too (something that hasn’t been the case in a little while, as even on Koi No Yokan where the lyrics were really good I wasn’t crazy invested) and especially on the aforementioned Urantia, where he tells a story of keys and lakes, the most important elements of a story. Speaking of Koi No Yokan, I feel like it just edges this album out by being a bit more consistent, but they’re not leagues apart or anything. I hold a similar amount of love for both.

The albums also ends almost as good as it begins, as the title track Ohms is definitely one of the strongest tracks on here with it’s desolate landscape and sound that doesn’t really remind me of any other Deftones record. That should also be said in general, as this album doesn’t sound like every Deftones album combined (like I felt with DE and Gore), it sounds like it could stand on it’s own without hearing anything else the band has made, and that definitely shows with how many new people the group pulled in with this record.

In short, though, it was a very fun ride going through Deftones’ discography (well, not always) and I’m honestly going to kinda miss the journey I went through even if it wasn’t all White Pony’s and Ohms’. But if you’ll join me I’ve got another dive starting up very soon. I’m unsure when but it’s definitely for a very prominent figure to say the least.

Favorite Tracks: Genesis, Ceremony, Urantia, Error, Pompeji, The Link Is Dead, Radiant City, Headless, Ohms

Okay Tracks: The Spell Of Mathematics

Least Favorite Tracks: None