The word legend seems to be thrown liberally around in the music scene and somehow loses its meaning at times, however when it comes to Deftones, I’m not sure the word is even big enough to describe them.
Since the beginning of their stellar career, they have released some of the most important albums in the metal scene period.
Their catalogue has highs and lows as all bands do but when they are on point, they are truly untouchable, it’s always a pleasure to hear new music and now we have new album Private Music to add to the collection, how does it fit into their story?
My Mind Is A Mountain is a sweeping and urgent opener that harks back to the Diamond Eyes/Koi No Yokan era, full of dreamy atmospherics and charging riffs and distinctivly beautiful vocals it’s exactly how you would want to start an album.
My Mind Is A Mountain is a sweeping and urgent opener that harks back to the Diamond Eyes/Koi No Yokan era, full of dreamy atmospherics and charging riffs and distinctivly beautiful vocals it’s exactly how you would want to start an album.
Locked Club carries on the same sort of feel but is more melodic and grandiose without ever going to far, it has the perfect distillation of the new era of Deftones sound and is all done in just under 3 minutes of gloriousness.
Eysis taps more into the Gore era and it’s jagged intro cascades into some more big riffs and echoed vocal patterns that never stick around to long before swooping back into the more electronic atmospheric beats but they never leave us hanging and the chorus is absolutely wonderful and epic and the juxtaposition of sounds works in a wonderful way.
Infinite Source is more of a slow burn, that I think is going to take a few listens to really appreciate in full, the way the song dips in and out of its flow disrupts the equilibrium slightly and of course there is all the individual parts you expect but somehow it takes slightly more effort to piece them together on this song.
There is a familiar Passenger type feel about Souvenir and I say this with the highest praise as that is one of my favorite Deftones songs and the warming atmosphere just radiates out of this song in such an effective way you just get lost inside it.
The mood just keeps building and pushing and by the end you just feel like you are on another planet the riffs are heavy but all subtlety beautiful and of course Chino’s vocals wrap everything in a blanket of beauty and the way the rest of the band create the soundscape to carry everything is just utterly jaw dropping an absolute must hear track.
cXz is then a more typical and forward thinking track that rudely jolts you out of your calm state of mind but it’s one of those sort of slowly, softly heavy but never to over the top type tracks because that might be an unwise choice at this point and when these guys make decisions when they are on this type of form they are usually correct ones!
I Think About You All The Time sees the tone and tempo slowed right down and creates a really emotive and warm feeling that other bands may aim to do but will just never manage to pull it off like it is done here, it tugs on the heart strings and grips them tight from start to finish.
Then the recently released 2nd teaser track Milk Of The Madonna is a rousing and rowdy return to a more alt-metal sound that has become a staple of the sound, being wrongly dumped in the nu-metal scene may have been the best thing that ever happened to Deftones because it forced them to re-evaluate their already groundbreaking sound and they have absolutely nailed it here!
Cult Hands has a distinctly early era vibe to be song, with some of the verses almost rapped, but not in a shit way it’s a more staccato approach to the vocals and it delivered with power and force while the music is a mix of soft tones and some more huge guitars but it does feel like its lacks a bit of direction and is probably me least favorite track on the album, I mean there has to be one right?
Metal Dream doesn’t sound too different, and I wonder if I have mixed up the tracks but I haven’t and here the main verses do actually have a bit more about them and it fits together a lot more coherently and doesn’t tail off towards the end so feels like a more complete track.
Departing The Body is the last track and it has the feeling of an album closer, with a slow, brooding build up of soft strings and electronics, it almost flows into life as opposed to exploding, but that not necessarily a bad thing, the way the atmosphere is created and held onto without having to just resort to throwing heaviness in there is something that a lot of other bands could learn from, it’s yet another song that just takes hold of you and makes you just ignore everything around you and listen, it’s a mesmerizing and engaging way to close this album out.
It’s really a once in a lifetime thing that a band like Deftones come about, the they have had amazing highs and devastating lows in their career, but they just keep coming back with new music, and while some albums haven’t quite hit the mark and some have been phenomenal, you can mark down Private Music as the latter!
From the minute this album kicks in to the very last note it takes you on a journey and makes you appreciate just how special this band really is! Some may disagree and honestly, I couldn’t care less because if you listen to this album and don’t think it’s anything but utterly triumphant and brilliant then there really is nothing I can do or say to help you! If you plan on doing anything today, make your top priority listening to this amazing album, you will not regret it. 10/10
Departing The Body is the last track and it has the feeling of an album closer, with a slow, brooding build up of soft strings and electronics, it almost flows into life as opposed to exploding, but that not necessarily a bad thing, the way the atmosphere is created and held onto without having to just resort to throwing heaviness in there is something that a lot of other bands could learn from, it’s yet another song that just takes hold of you and makes you just ignore everything around you and listen, it’s a mesmerizing and engaging way to close this album out.
It’s really a once in a lifetime thing that a band like Deftones come about, the they have had amazing highs and devastating lows in their career, but they just keep coming back with new music, and while some albums haven’t quite hit the mark and some have been phenomenal, you can mark down Private Music as the latter!
From the minute this album kicks in to the very last note it takes you on a journey and makes you appreciate just how special this band really is! Some may disagree and honestly, I couldn’t care less because if you listen to this album and don’t think it’s anything but utterly triumphant and brilliant then there really is nothing I can do or say to help you! If you plan on doing anything today, make your top priority listening to this amazing album, you will not regret it. 10/10
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