Review: Deftones- Diamond Eyes

Well, where to begin? Some of you reading this review (if anyone is reading it) may not be aware that Chi Cheng, the bassist for Deftones is currently in a coma after a car accident. This means the the Deftones project that they were working on, Eros ended up getting shelved, and instead we got Diamond Eyes. Does this mean that Diamond Eyes is a rushed, second class, or inferior album? Frankly that couldn't be father from the truth.

Every track on the album feels original and relevant. On most albums there are about 2 tracks or more which are almost always skipped out on when listening, or conversely 1 or 2 tracks which you always play, whilst the rest of the album gets ignored. However, this is not the experience that one gets when listening to Diamond Eyes. On the first 3 or 4 listens, there is no immediate "best track". This is because every track is varied, and the album works great as a whole. I know that in the statements about the album, the band said that they were creating an optimistic album, but I found the mood of the album to be rather gloomy, and subtly dark, and that isn't a bad thing. For example Prince are about a murderer, and the song Rocket Skates has a chorus chant of "guns, razors knives".

There is also much to be praised about the musicianship on this album. Stephen Carpenter (guitar) has cited his love for crushing tech-metallers Meshuggah, and it certainly shows on this album. This doesn't mean that the guitar work is going to sound like Meshuggah, it certainly still sounds like Deftones, but you can feel the technicality, and the influence that Meshuggah have had on the riffs. Some of them feel blissfully heavy. There are also haunting, and melodic passages too. The vocals are also fantastic and diverse, with Chino fully understanding that a whisper can be far more terrifying than a scream.

There are so many more positive things that I would like to say about this album that I can not articulate, therefore I shall conclude. I would say that if you are a Deftones fan this is a must buy, and if you consider yourself an open minded metal fan, or a fan of music in general, this is a must buy, or a good place to start if you have not listened to Deftones before. It is easily as good as White Pony, if not better. Make sure you catch them at Download, or on a UK tour (if and when we get one.

In my reviews I would normally say what the best song on the album is, but as it is so hard to tell, I will just have to say that my personal favourite is Prince which you can listen to here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcX6AU3s2lo

Overall album score: 9/10