"Ohms" - Deftones New Album

[Hidalgo]

So after listening to new album, GORE seems not that bad as an album.

Lol. This has been a staple of many deftones fans for a long time. New record comes out, previous 'bad' record is suddenly okay. You do you man, but could you explain in more detail what you dislike about Ohms?

But my biggest complaint of Gore has been fixed, which is the horrible mixing/production.

really? where can i hear the Gore fix? cause it needs to be mixed/mastered again for sure. i never knew a cleaned up mix Gore exsisted

[Visionz]

At this point im hyped to read vesanics reaction to the album.

Hyped?  Wow

[LG95]

At this point im hyped to read vesanics reaction to the album.

First day: "I'm really enjoying this."

Second day: "Eh it's not as good as the self-titled though is it..."

Third day: "I love Battle Axe."

Just joking around, Ves. I think this will be your favourite post-SNW.

[Vesanic]

I love Battle-axe.

[buflen]

So after listening to new album, GORE seems not that bad as an album.

Lol. This has been a staple of many deftones fans for a long time. New record comes out, previous 'bad' record is suddenly okay. You do you man, but could you explain in more detail what you dislike about Ohms?

But my biggest complaint of Gore has been fixed, which is the horrible mixing/production.

really? where can i hear the Gore fix? cause it needs to be mixed/mastered again for sure. i never knew a cleaned up mix Gore exsisted

My biggest complaints on Gore has been fixed on Ohms. Thats what I meant.

[Inkblades]

If Terry produced Gore, it would be as good (or, bit of a hot take here, perhaps even better) than Ohms.

I actually like Gore production. What really brings the album down a bit, for me,  is how unachieved a couple songs felt (Xenon, Doomed User).  Makes total sense nowadays, regarding the recent interviews and how Chino sort of said that album was rushed.

Stuff like Acid Hologram,  Geometric Headdress or Hearts/Wires  still ranks among my favorite. Especially the 2nd one, what a banger'

Doomed User could be a classic if Chino's screaming was better on it IMO. Safe to say that Terry knows how to capture Chino's voice in its perfect form better than anyone else in the world. Xenon just needs a bridge and maybe a slightly less compressed guitar tone in the chorus and its good to go IMO.

Acid, Geo and H/W are also favorites of mine from Gore, but if Terry produced them? Fuhgheddaboutit! Error kind of reminds me of Acid and Geo, but with better production.

[Far away]

If Terry produced Gore, it would be as good (or, bit of a hot take here, perhaps even better) than Ohms.

I actually like Gore production. What really brings the album down a bit, for me,  is how unachieved a couple songs felt (Xenon, Doomed User).  Makes total sense nowadays, regarding the recent interviews and how Chino sort of said that album was rushed.

Stuff like Acid Hologram,  Geometric Headdress or Hearts/Wires  still ranks among my favorite. Especially the 2nd one, what a banger'

Doomed User could be a classic if Chino's screaming was better on it IMO. Safe to say that Terry knows how to capture Chino's voice in its perfect form better than anyone else in the world. Xenon just needs a bridge and maybe a slightly less compressed guitar tone in the chorus and its good to go IMO.

Acid, Geo and H/W are also favorites of mine from Gore, but if Terry produced them? Fuhgheddaboutit! Error kind of reminds me of Acid and Geo, but with better production.

I consider Terry Date the 6th member of the band. Kinda.

[Bergerac]

Hooo boy, this did not sit right with me at first time of asking.

My initial listen was a bit fragmented, because I couldn't hear Urantia, Pompeji, and Radiant City. I'm never the guy who's like 'Where's the metal?' but this time I kind of felt I was, and I hoped those three missing tracks were the key. Fortunately, that kind of turned out to be the case, to varying degrees. Though upon subsequent listens, tracks like Spell are heavier than I first heard, for whatever reason.

So, I had an odd first go through, but the funny thing is, I think that worked out very well for me, because my initial couple of listens are an upwards arc from 'This is well written but a bit soft', to 'yeah this is the happiest I've been since 2004'. When I was first listening, I felt that the writing was 'better' than SNW to Gore, but something wasn't there. I wasn't angry, but I wasn't pleased either. I needed those three tracks to contextualise everything else, I think.

So anyway, I'd obviously heard Ohms and Genesis already, and I went, in order, through Ceremony, Error, Spell, Link, and Headless, and I was a bit underwhelmed by the overall lack of speed, heft or winding vocal melodies. Then I finally did find Urantia, Pompeji and Radiant, and the whole thing glued and I was like 'Oh, thank God'. Then heard it all in order and it just works. My impressions of the album improved significantly.

Track by track:

Genesis - Anything that's fucking quasi-S/T, I'm going to love. Dark Deftones is best Deftones, sorry. S/T is God to me. Love the softer stuff like Entombed and Sextape, sure, but I'm a Battle-Axe boy at the end of the day. I like misery. This is dark, heavy, and miserable, and it's fucking great.

Ceremony - I didn't 'hate' it first time, but I was kind of cynically deadpan like 'Going hard with melodic guitar lines is going to be this album's thing, isn't it?'. Expectations being what they are I just wanted to be kicked in the face with something heavy, and it was a bad first jolt. It's grown on me a lot after a few more listens. Love the bridge. I think it's fair to say that this always has been a band for bridges, though. It's now a solid track to me.

Urantia: Instant hit when I did finally hear it. Much like Pompeji, I love how kind of 'poppy' the vox melody is. This is one of the best tracks on the album. But it's underpinned by heavy riffs too so it's a best of both worlds.

Error: Unfortunately there's usually always one track that's slow to land, and with me it was Error. The first half of this track just strikes me as plodding. The chorus melodies and bridge are fantastic, though. But it might always be a track where I'm kind of... waiting for 2 minutes...

Spell: This is an interesting choice of sound, kind of sultry, like Deathblow. It was one of the tracks I liked most that muddled first time, and it's grown heavier with subsequent tries, despite not being a deliberate riff shithouse.

Pompeji: Fantastic track. Love the accessible verse vox melody and then the bass heavy chorus. The end of this track is basically Deputy Andy crying over the sight of Laura Palmer's body. Seriously Frank's shit at the end of the track is, musically, the saddest part of the album and is mega feels. Probably the album's best track.

This Link is Dead: I loved how 'WGTB' Chino was going here on the mic but I was like 'Man, I wish the guitar was fucking heavy here to match the vox'. It's grown on me a bit more but that first impresison was that the guitars here were just too soft and I was like 'Did Stef dab too hard and forget to foot tap his Distortion?'.

Radiant: I had a massive fucking smile on my face when the guitars kicked in after the bass intro. This is the most fun track. Abe was right. This is the good vibes of the album. (Aside: Abe is Jesus. When Chino's shouting 'Jesus Christ' on Urantia's chorus he's just shouting over to Abe).

Headless: I like how soft and spacey this is, but I have to admit, there's a jokey part of me that's like 'It's Xenon: Second Chance For That Riff Edition'. It's like Xenon's front half fucked Prince's behind.

Ohms: I like it, though I do have a couple of reservations: A) I wish that the intro / outro motif was the main basis for the actual song, B) I think that the 'hit the brakes' transition after the intro is pretty awkward, and C) I reeeeeeeeeally didn't like finding out that this was the last song on the album before release. It's like spoiling an ending. The last song should always be the final discovery of an album listen.

Conclusion: THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TERRY DATE HAPPENS. This is their best album after the classic 4. I'm very happy, despite needing to transcribe my initial gripes above.
Getting the album tomorrow and I'll grab some merch soon.

[Draken]

Ten hours before I can listen to this thing. This ride is a hard one

You just can't wait to say "two more hours" 

[Hidalgo]

pompenji. Chino basically saying if there's a Jesus/God, then he's abandoned us. like look at this mess, do something already. don't think he believes. me either, used to but gave it up 6-7 years ago. never heard him go at God like this, kinda dig it

also "this link is dead" is so cool, it sounds like WGTB's cousin or  little brother, lol. because how his vocal effects sound. the music isnt quite as heavy, but it's a banger for sure

not sure yet cause it's so new, but seems this might be the heaviest album they've made since ATF (but it's not always heavy like ATF and adrenaline. just a a bit heavier than s/t )

[endstand]

pompenji. Chino basically saying if there's a Jesus/God, then he's abandoned us. like look at this mess, do something already. don't think he believes. me either, used to but gave it up 6-7 years ago. never heard him go at God like this, kinda dig it

also "this link is dead" is so cool, it sounds like WGTB's cousin or  little brother, lol. because how his vocal effects sound. the music isnt quite as heavy, but it's a banger for sure

not sure yet cause it's so new, but seems this might be the heaviest album they've made since ATF (but it's not always heavy like ATF and adrenaline. just a a bit heavier than s/t )

Heavier than S/T? In what way?

[LG95]

Sounds like Abe's doing 16th note triplets on the kick drum at the end of Ceremony. Unexpected.

[from_musings]

Ten hours before I can listen to this thing. This ride is a hard one

What was the point? U paid. Not gonna benefit you, just enjoy it dude

Play stupid games, win stupid prices

[Hidalgo]

pompenji. Chino basically saying if there's a Jesus/God, then he's abandoned us. like look at this mess, do something already. don't think he believes. me either, used to but gave it up 6-7 years ago. never heard him go at God like this, kinda dig it

also "this link is dead" is so cool, it sounds like WGTB's cousin or  little brother, lol. because how his vocal effects sound. the music isnt quite as heavy, but it's a banger for sure

not sure yet cause it's so new, but seems this might be the heaviest album they've made since ATF (but it's not always heavy like ATF and adrenaline. just a a bit heavier than s/t )

Heavier than S/T? In what way?

the music tends to stay more agressive, and Chino screaming on more songs, and no ballads. minerva, deathblow, lucky you, aoaue, moana, are all ballads/mellow. ohms is the most consistently heavy. but i'm not even sure on this, as i already said. it's too new to me right now

[Vesanic]

Ten hours before I can listen to this thing. This ride is a hard one

What was the point? U paid. Not gonna benefit you, just enjoy it dude

Play stupid games, win stupid prices

You are such a moron.

[Bergerac]

I forgot to say, the irony isn't lost on me that despite the trio writing sessions, Frank and Sergio seem to be present as fuck here.

[mono]

First listen: it's beautiful and well structured, very different. Also the mixing is so good!
I clearly note an 80s vibe in frank's synths and chino's voice, in a good way this time

[Hidalgo]

i still think Ohms (Song) has the best riffs on the album. and i've made up my mind, the video is their best in my opinion (i knew first watch it was top 3 at least)

Radiant city riff probably 2nd best for me

loving the mix also, well done Terry Date. sounds really good loud (unlike Gore. i like the album, but wtf is that mix all about?)

[E-Money]

Love ceremony. That driving riff reminds me of ATF and WP.. plus Chino is just gorgeous on it. Been stuck in my head all day. The perfect cruising song. Also love the second half of Error.  First half is meh tho...

I feel like a few songs try to be heavy when they didn't need to be. I wish Error was all the second half. No need for the abrasive guitar tones. Just make it a beautiful dreamy song. Same with Spell. I wish they were both mellow and dreamy but a whole time. But I can't complain. What a beauty of a record. Mixed so damn well. Thank you Terry.

[LG95]

I disagree especially on Error. I think the whole song's great. I love how bouncy the groove and the riff is, and I think the vocal melody is really cool. And it means when it switches up, the chorus and the outro parts soar even more to me.