Album Review: Deftones-Koi No Yokan

Deftones returned with a vengeance in 2010 with Diamond Eyes after staying relatively quiet for a while following their lackluster 2006 record Saturday Night Wrist. Bassist Chi Cheng's tragic car accident seemed to rejuvenate the band after years of underwhelming releases (or as what I like to call that period of their career, the post-White Pony funk). Their resurgence of creativity and energy continues on their latest release Koi No Yokan, A dreamy and experimental release that is a worthy addition to the Deftones catalog.

Koi No Yokan is actually very different from it's predecessor Diamond Eyes. Where Diamond Eyes was crushing and sometimes melodic, Koi No Yokan is primarily mellow with only the occasional heavy moments. Koi No Yokan is essentially vocalist Chino Moreno letting his indie/dream pop influences run wild and take control of the music and it works to varying results. There are tracks like "Tempest" and "Rosemary" that are beautiful. Moreno's emotion-filled vocals and some great atmospheric riffing from Stephen Carpenter drive these tracks and make them something special. The problem is that the other strictly slow songs like "Entombed", "Graphic Nature" and "What Happened to You?" plod along and are just immensely boring. These songs are just way slow, stagnant, and indie-based for my liking. As expected being the ignorant whore metalhead that I am, I found myself gravitating more towards the heavy songs on the record. "Poltergeist" and "Leathers" are straight chaos while "Goon Squad", "Swerve City", and "Gauze" are a bit slower and refined, but still retain that heavy edge that sets them apart from the calmer material. Don't get me wrong, Their slower stuff is great most of the time, but their heavy stuff just always grabs you with it's combination of intensity and beauty and just about always manages to make a lasting impression.

Koi No Yokan is a solid, but somewhat disappointing record. This record is in the same vein of Saturday Night Wrist except much better in the execution. This is the indie, mellow side of the Deftones getting out after the release of their heaviest record in 15 years with Diamond Eyes. I respect them trying out different things with each record and this record will especially please fans of their softer material. Personally, I prefer their heavier side. My biggest complaint about this record is the lack of skull-crushing riffs from Stephen Carpenter and Chino's trademark shriek, but Diamond Eyes had plenty of both of those so it's completely cool that they favored their more artsy, melodic side on this record. Just like Diamond Eyes though, I have a feeling that Koi No Yokan will take some time to grow on me and it very well could end up being one of my favorite Deftones records. Koi No Yokan shows that the Deftones aren't going anywhere anytime soon as they continue to reinvent themselves almost twenty years into their career.

3.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Leathers
2.Poltergeist
3.Goon Squad