Deftones – ‘Gore’ [Review]
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No other band on Earth sounds exactly like Deftones.
Since 1988, Deftones have been busy birthing one of the most recognisable styles in metal. Over the course of almost three decades, they’ve racked up platinum albums, won over legions of die-hard fans, and coped heroically with the passing of original bassist Chi Cheng in 2013. Deftones’ guts, grit, and resilience are absolutely incredible.
Deftones have never recorded a note I didn’t love – and Gore’s eleven tracks don’t contain a single duff moment, either.
Prayers / Triangles opens with jittery feedback, setting up the edge-of-your-seat adrenaline rush that has fuelled the majority of Deftones tunes. Cue one sexy drum groove, Chino Moreno’s anxiously animated vocal, and the sparsest of extended and effected guitar chords, and we’re off into territory that feels familiar but still unpredictable. Soon, tidal waves of distortion herald the first of many major-league hooks. All we’re missing is a cathartic meltdown – which arrives during Prayers / Triangles’ bridge section – and some gut-busting riffs, the first of which arrives during Doomed User, after Acid Hologram grates and tears a path through your ear canals.
Long-time Deftones fans will doubtless be enamoured with Gore by this point – and that’s only after the first trio of tracks. Doomed User’s mix of odd time signatures (especially the winning alternations between 5/8 and 6/8 that lend a seasick feel to its opening riff) made it an early personal highlight; Geometric Headdress boasts bizarrely syncopated guitar melodies and galloping epicness amid more 5/4; Hearts / Wires soaks itself in scuzzy uncertainty before Chino Moreno unleashes a top-drawer lyrical performance; and Pittura Infamante marks the spot at which Gore shifts down a gear, allowing the rest of us room to breathe.
Xenon occupies the heavier end of the rock spectrum, acting as a reminder that Deftones have long been masters of the loud/quiet, cathartic/mellow tightrope walk, while (L)MIRL is a signature ballad with a broken back that proves…wait…uplifting?! Kind of, actually. And another highlight. One that implodes into hyperdense heaviness right at the very end. Perfectly timed.
Whether they’re putting the pedal to the metal or easing off, listening to Deftones is like watching a tai chi master flowing from motion to motion. Gore’s title track opens like a synth-pop song before Stephen Carpenter’s razor-sharp sledgehammer guitar slips in and crushes every other element (highlight three right here); Phantom Bride immediately dives into the deep end of the groove pool before Chino Moreno wins once more, merging great words with a singular display of vocal gymnastics; and Rubicon pulses and pounds into an upward spiral fragmented by stop-start riffage and spun into a swirling vortex during a glorious chorus.
Arms in the air for Rubicon’s final stretch (expect and ignore funny looks if you find yourself doing that on public transport), and Gore is gone.
The Repeat function is there for a reason…
TMMP RATING: 100% (Essential Listening!)
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