With tracks like “Nosebleed” and “Root”, the band provides a flurry of sporadic vocals and aggressively rhythmic instrumentation. With Korn’s self-titled debut having been released the year before, Adrenaline came into the world as a strong entry to the nu metal genre. So, for now, it’s time to be quiet and drive through Deftones’ masterful discography. What one writer had at #2 was #8 for another writer. While the #1 album on this list was a slam dunk, the rest resulted in a big debate among this ranking’s four writers. Having tragically lost their longtime bassist, Chi Cheng - who died in 2013 after a car crash put him in a semi-coma for almost five years - Deftones have triumphed in their second act, continuing to release quality albums in recent years, with a new one on the way. Led by Chino Moreno’s soaring vocals, and the loud/quiet dynamic of his talented bandmates, Deftones are perhaps the most consistent “heavy” rock act of the past quarter century. Now, placing a genre on Deftones’ music seems like a fruitless endeavor, as their sound is really undefinable. While Deftones may have emerged out of the nu metal scene of the mid ’90s, their musical maturity and sonic evolution over the past 25 years has distanced the Sacramento, California, outfit from others in that category. Right away, you’ll see that the “last place” album is a very solid effort. And they’re also a rare band who really hasn’t produced a “bad” album, which makes ranking Deftones’ discography a difficult task.
ĭeftones are a rare band who appeal to metalheads and shoegazers alike, offering a sound that’s both heavy and ethereal. This time, we follow Deftones’ career, from their 1995 debut, Adrenaline, to their most recent effort, 2016’s Gore. It’s exact science by way of a few beers. Look to the inviting grind of ‘You’ve Seen The Butcher’ and a genteel, languorous ‘Sextape’ for some of the best here, however Diamond Eyes contains not a wasted second or a single misstep, and although born of hardship, provided the sort of second wind needed to drive away the black clouds of inter-band tensions and future uncertainty.įor more Albums of the Decade content, click here.Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, a director’s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in the abstract. Thanks in part to Chino Moreno’s yearning, idiosyncratic croon (‘Beauty School’) and Stephen Carpenter’s gift for virile, brute-force riffs (‘Rocket Skates’) both reaching arguably career-best levels, that signature Deftones yin and yang feels like a therapeutic coming together of styles, their well established contrasts between light and shade all imbued with the same optimism and vitality. Given the tragic circumstances surrounding the record – whilst working on the now shelved Eros, bassist Chi Cheng was involved in an awful traffic collision which would ultimately claim his life – it is worth noting that these tracks, whilst sometimes as brutal as Deftones have ever been, are also the band at their most uplifting. Indeed, this is a record which simply revels in sounding like Deftones, each of their singular sonic traits encapsulated in a filler-free forty-one minutes of thunderous metallic power and melodic fragility, and although some could argue that Diamond Eyes represents something of a back-to-basics approach, there is no denying the almost revelatory songwriting quality throughout, immediately apparent as the opening title-track explodes into action with its pulverising guitar motif and elegiac chorus. Rescuing the band from a mid-noughties creative slump and some in-house, career-threatening personal squabbles, 2010’s Diamond Eyes represented less a return to form and more a haughty show of strength, an imperious display of focus and fire re-affirming just why Deftones managed to (unlike most of their peers) escape the nu-metal generation with credibility and renown still intact.