Review Summary: Great album, the best below white pony
Deftones is a band that somehow has managed to be original with each release, they know how to experiment and how to create atmospheric metal like no other band can do it. Musically, Deftones is far from complex, but there´s just something beautiful in every single deftones song, everything sounds so deep, and most of their songs have such a strong atmosphere, it may be sometimes even hypnotic.
Now, after 3 years of their self-titled release comes Saturday Night Wrist, as experimental and trippy as it could be. All of Deftones´s cool features are present in this album, once again the sound is flawless, and the whole album is an experience, due to its hypnotic atmosphere. Songs are now longer and crafted in a more detailed way, Chino´s voice sounds Godlike, his ambigous style of writing lyrics is also present in this album.
1) Hole in the Earth:
Album opener, this song is actually deeper than it seems, this is one of those songs that stays on your mind upon first listen, very catchy chorus, and a heavy section before the end, yet a strong song, but the best part of the abum is yet to come. 8/10
2)Rapture:
After hearing Hole in the Earth, you would probably expect something softer, and with a catchy chorus, but instead Rapture comes kicking in, being one of the album´s most aggresive songs, this song shows how they can craft music using odd chord progressions creating a deep atmosphere, yet being a heavy song, Chino uses his harsh vocals in this song, well known in songs like "Elite" or "Hexagram" 9/10
3)Beware:
This is the album´s longest song and probably one of the most outstanding, it begins with a very very soft verse, when soon you can hear creepy keyboards and the way Chino sings "Do you like the way the water tastes" really gives me a spooky feeling, then it detonates into a powerful chorus with Chino's trademark soft voice. This whole song is an adventure, the outro will pound you with might on the face, very heavy and uses dissonance to make it even more chaotic, great song! 10/10
4)Cherry Waves:
This could be Chi Cheng´s best work, the bass lines on the verse are great, mixed with the keybords and the guitars it creates a beautifully layered atmosphere, this song is again creepy, but at the same time it is so beautiful, and has one of the best choruses the deftones has ever done. In this song keyboards are more prominent than guitars, making it a soft track, but there´s something about the beauty of this song that really reaches deep into me. 10/10
5) Mein: (Featuring Serj Tankian from System of a Down)
A slightly heavier song, somehow this song warps me to space, the first thing that gets into your head is Chino's soaring voacls over Stephen's dissonant chords, this song has a catchy chorus, but the coordination between the guitars and the percussion is really original here, it ends with Serj Tankian singing "The universe breaking us down" I think Serj could have done a better job, though. This is a fresh deftones song, it definately has their trademark way of making simple things sound inmense. 9/10
6)U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,A,B,Select,Start:
This is an excellent interlude, using the Konami code as title, Deftones creates a mellow, ambiental interlude, using clean guitars and soft percussions, this song has something that reminds me of Radiohead´s odd way of using layered guitars along with ambiental keyboards. This song shows how deftones has a strong sense of melody, but they express it in an odd, unconventional way. 8.5/10
7)Xerces:
This song could sound like a ballad, again replacing the distorted guitar with keyboards, this song is more emotional and is one of those songs in which you can actually feel Chino's vocals, a very deep and emotional song, far from being a heavy one, but the keyboards sound perfectly well polished here. This song could be "the calm before the storm." 9/10
8)Rats!Rats!Rats!:
This is definately my favorite song of this album, I´m pretty sure we must thank this song to Stepher Carpenter, who has mentioned Meshuggah as one of his biggest influences. This song is probably the most brutal deftones has ever done (along with When Girls Telephone Boys) the way the song develops is amazing, the climax is definately its thrashing bridge, soemthing deftones has never done before, this song shows how they can still play brutal-heavy songs with a great atmosphere and make it sound pretty different from what you´re used to listen to, excelent song, aggresive as hell and complex. 10/10
9)Pink Cellphone: (featuring Annie Hardy from Giant Drag)
"Believe in the one true power." This song is different from everything they´ve done, it is more focused in samples by Frank Delgado, I like to say this is Deftones´ sexiest song (hahaha) because of the way Annie Hardy´s monochromatic vocals sound, she sounds like she is talking through a crappy phone, and it has so many samples, it reminded me to Radiohead´s Kid A (obviously not as complex). The ending of this song is very funny, it says stuff that I can´t write here, but it made me laugh a lot, and it ends with the word "Amen." Good song, and it´s cool to hear how deftones experiments more with electronic sounds. 9/10
10) Combat:
After a minute of noise and static Abe begins with one of his best drum labors followed by one of Stephen´s most memorable riffs, followed by Chino´s distorted vocals, this song has kind melodies going on in the guitars, but it is a dark song, this is pure alternative metal, once again Chino comes off with a catchy but amazing chorus, proving he could be one of the best modern vocalists. 10/10
11) Kimdracula:
Another outstanding song, one of the simplest songs in the album, but Chino´s voice (again) makes this one of the best and most emotional songs, it is also a lot deeper than it seems to be, even though it has a very predictable and simple structure the guitars sound awesome and clear, the chorus is hypnotic, and a remarkable emotional job done by Chino. 10/10
12) Riviere:
This is the album closer and the darkest song, it is also one of the most bizarre songs on this album. The first time I listened to it there was a point where I thought it wasn´t as good as the rest of the album, it begins with a soft but, dark melody, with Chino´s well known slow singing, it takes u to a very odd chorus but, it suddendly explodes to a sick song, the more times you listen to it, the more you actually like it, really an un-conventional album closer, but as good as the rest of the album 8.5/10
This is an excellent and consistent release, it really focuses on deftones´ atmospheric rather than heavy sound, and has a lot of variety in the songs. Frank Delgado did an awesome job in making each song an interesting, at the same time trippy piece. I think this is their best album below White Pony (White pony rules). I hope Deftones brings something even better than White pony next year, this is one of the best modern bands and to me they could be like a heavy Radiohead (if they continue polishing their sound and experimenting). Deftones really did a good job, and I´m pretty sure they´ll keep on doing what they are the best at.
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