For Ohms (2020), Deftones called back Terry Date, the man behind their earliest records, and recovered in the process an urgency that seemed a little lost. It is a record of reconquest, heavier and more frontal than Gore, where the band tightens the bolts without sacrificing any of its atmospheric dimension.
« Genesis » opens on a masterful calm/storm alternation; « Ohms » and « Radiant City » hit with recovered precision; « Ceremony » and « The Spell of Mathematics » remind you no one makes melancholy sound this heavy. Stephen Carpenter, reconciled with the band’s direction, delivers some of his most memorable riffs of the decade.
Released in the thick of the pandemic, the album felt like an obvious truth: Deftones, thirty years after their start, were still at the summit, unable either to repeat themselves or to disappoint. A coherence, a poise, a class rare for a band of this longevity.
Verdict: 8.5. A masterful return that closes (for now) one of modern metal’s finest trajectories in style. Superb.
