I know there's a few Deftones fans on this forum so I thought I'd type up a review on their latest album Gore.
You know those rare instances where on first listen, an album rips your entrails from your stomach and you stand in stunned amazement, with your heart pounding like a vicious reptile and your knees shivering like jelly, knowing that the songs you just heard will grow to take a special place in your heart over the coming years, and perhaps even decades? Welly, welly, welly, well, the Deftones latest slice of pizza, aptly titled Gore, resides in this category quite comfortably and should have no trouble pulling you into its strange tides. The Deftones have managed to remain one of the few relevant bands prominent in the controversially titled nineties nu-metal scene, and have brushed the Limp Bizkit dust from their pants, carving their own name and their own unique style by constantly pushing the envelope with each new release. I am happy to say, that the boys are back with a dangerously delicious new album and they mean business! Chino's vocals have hit top gear, his moaning words soaring over the top of some truly crashing riffs. Carpenter's ball-busting guitar work and Cunningham's hypnotic drums take one instantly back to White Pony and their self-titled release. Let it be said that you will also hear some wild experimentation on this album; odd electronic noises and eighties tinged solos that shouldn't work but somehow fit splendidly into this whole wild enchilada. There is no filler here. Each song has its place in the grand masterwork. This is a story, a journey, and should, accordingly, be listened to from start to finish with no interruption.
The lyrics are perhaps at their finest on this album. Deftones have always had a way with conveying words that juice up the synapses with incredible visuals and this album is no exception to the rule. "Pink cigarette, white see-through dress, and a black-gold veil, ornate headdress, my temptress" and "So I put this gun to my head and smile and dive deep" are just a few brain curdling examples that can be found on their latest opus. It's difficult not to fall in love with this album after a few listens and it becomes obvious that they placed a lot of thought and care into its development...and why shouldn't they have? After all, it becomes quite clear that half of the songs centre on the theme of relationship breakdown. This album is clearly a very personal one and is presented with a mix of compassion and fury, dancing delicately between these two poles in a way that only these guys can master.
Songs like (L)Mirl amd Hearts/Wires are genetically similar to earlier slow boiler greats like the sensuous Passenger but then, other songs, like the epic Pittura Infamante, have no reference or precedent to previous albums. Tracks like these manage to kick so much ass it's not funny. 18 years on, these wildcats can still take you on a beautifully dark journey into an ever-evolving and unique sound that has always and will always be distinctly their own. The Deftones make me feel that I have been blasted from a cannon into someone else's movie, perhaps a David Lynch film, where there is something more to the substance of the streets than meets the eye. Something violent and magnetic. To try to understand what I underwent when feasting on this album by trying to explain it with mere words, is as useless as an anchovy flavoured lollypop. Alas, I have tried to convey something of what took place Bubba. If you dig this album even a quarter as much as I did, that would probably be enough to send you into some kind of psychic orgasm that could potentially split your head open. So…put those headphones on, wrap yourself in a hoodie and take a stroll through the suburbs on a starless night with the volume sweetened to fever pitch. Over and out.
9/10