Deftones have always been a bit of an oddball. They began their career in the 90’s right as Nu-metal was taking off, being thrown into the same sound category as bands like Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit, and Slipknot. However, 2001 is the year where everything changed for them, with their critically acclaimed breakout album “White Pony.” Shifting away from being a sort of Rap-Rock band into something that encompassed Alternative Metal, Trip Hop, and Shoegaze, Ever since then we have been gifted a band who continues to flip the script with their unique blend of metal. “Ohms”, their 8th studio album however, sees the band playing uninspired and lackluster music continuing their hiccup that they saw with their album “Gore” back in 2016.
The Bads
The major issue with “Ohms” are the bland guitar riffs. Throughout the album guitarist Stephen Carpenter plays the same few notes so repeatedly over the course of 47 minutes, that I had to relisten to the album 3 times just to make sure I wasn’t confusing songs. One of the biggest offenders of this is instrumentation on the songs “The Spell of Mathematics” and “Genesis”, the riffs and drum patterns are identical. Screaming has always been standard on any Deftones record, however “Ohms” finds vocalist Chino Moreno making the same sounds a cat makes when you step on their tail by accident. On songs where he shrieks like a hysterical person such as “This Link is Dead” and “Radiant City” has him sounding incredibly grainy and distorted. The production on the album is incredibly mucky sounding, whether it’s Chino or it’s Carpenter. overpower, Cunningham’s Drums, or Delgado’s Synths.
The positives
When Chino croons, he can send shivers down your spine, unfortunately he only does a few times over the course of “Ohms.” Songs “Ceremony”, “Pompeji” and “Ohms” are the biggest and only highlights over the course of the 47 minutes. “Ceremony” features Moreno’s vocals transitioning away from the screams of “Genesis” to lighter, airy croons over a beautiful bassline that guides the main verses, only swapping lead with the guitar during the chorus. “Pompeji” again features Chino crooning, this time over a airy synth sound which takes turns dancing between chorus and riff with a heavier guitar line, ending with a beautiful soundscape of a seagulls over synths. This is easily the highlight of the album and I personally think it’s easily one of the Deftones greatest songs of all time.“Ohms” is the last track on the album and as always leaves with a bang. With a simple yet catchy guitar riff coupled with an excellent guitar tone, livelier drumming and a great chorus, “Ohms” will go down as one of the better Deftone Outros.
The final verdict
Overall “Ohms” is an incredibly weak album with repetitive and boring guitar work, robotic and cold drumming, and vocals that sound like a tortured human. The mixing of the tracks leaves a lot to be desired, with elements of the track being drowned by others. Each song lacks a clear identity causing the album to blur into one massive blob of a track filled with ideas that don’t match and sub-par playing.This is definitely one you don’t need to hear, aside from “Ceremony” “Pompeji”, and “Ohms”.
4/10
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