There's just something profoundly Deftones about it.

The opening riff of 'Pompeji' is some of stuff I wish we could hear more. I saw someone drawing a similarity between 'Headless' and 'Rubicon' and it's no wonder: a specific part of it sounds EXACTLY THE SAME as the couple of seconds before the latter instrumental ending ('oooooh'). They can still create doomy, heartfelt atmospheres while being subtle about it instead out outpouring obvious emotions in your ears. The synth solo, as I had already heard on Chino's stream, almost made me cry. The chorus of 'Headless' had me headnodding big time. This is definitely one of the most experimental things they did, the songs go in a variety of influences and styles, probably the biggest distance I've heard them walk through the spectrum. God damn does it feel good to hear Chino properly SCREAM again even for just a bit, as opposed to shouting in a bunch of saturating filters (sorry Chino, this is just my opinion, and I obviously wouldn't know what it's like to be a vocalist). 'This Link is Dead' comes as the angriest song we've heard Deftones do since 'Rats!'. The use of the 9-string is really obvious on 'The Spell (.)' and makes a lot of sense. The bridge of 'Genesis', and a couple of moments I couldn't memorise, only reaffirm that wish. Ever since songs like 'Fist' or 'U, U, (etc.)', or the SNW demos, or just about every time I listen to a Deftones instrumental, I have always wanted to see the full potential of this band as a full-on instrumental piece. The second part of the song is the kind of Deftones I wish I could hear more. It is the one song I really, really like from start to end. 'The Spell of Mathematics' still comes to me as the stand out. I didn't feel like skipping a single track, I enjoyed them all in a way or another. 'Ceremony' has one of the catchiest choruses I've heard them do, without falling in a cliche of formulaic composition (to which I see no problem, I just know Deftones care a lot about that). All of these cuts have something interesting to them, the flow is surprisingly steady and keeps the listener intrigued from start to end. Keep in mind this is my opinion, fresh off the first listen (which is probably a terrible idea), after I heard the two singles and most of Chino's stream in microphone quality. I didn't really want to review it, kinda feel compelled for some reason. Quote from: Vesanic on Sep 25, 2020, 03:52 AM

Rank the deftones albums