Album Review: Deftones, "Gore"

DEFTONES

*Gore*

(Reprise)

There may not be a groovier or sexier metal band than Deftones. Singer Chino Moreno practically whispers, “There’s a new, strange godless demon awake inside me” shortly after “Prayers / Triangles” begins. Discordant synthesizer (or heavily distorted guitar) takes the soft lead, only to be juxtaposed with a loud--and hard rocking--chorus built around Moreno screaming “Prayers! Triangles!” And so begins Deftones’ eighth album, “Gore,” one that continues to show how far the California band has left behind its “nu metal” roots only to become a major influence of metal in general. Exhibit A: Moreno providing guest vocals on "Embers,” one of the best tracks on Lamb of God’s latest album . As for this effort, “Acid Hologram” features mid-tempo, wall-of-sound guitar that is both slinky and threatening at the same time. Those especially unfamiliar with the band’s style should listen to “Acid Hologram” and “Doomed User” back-to-back. The latter song picks up where the former leaves off, nailing the band’s intoxicating energy and compelling riffage. “Hearts / Wires” plays more like an experimental ballad: “Nothing can save me now / Is what I believe,” Moreno confesses at the start, only to later wail, “Cut through this razor wire / And dine on your heart / Mine ‘til the end.” That’s an apt summary of the band’s sonic appeal.

8/10

Link to print version of the review, in the May issue of Illinois Entertainer magazine:
Click on this link, open the PDF and navigate to page 28.

Album Review: Baroness, "Purple"

Baroness

*Purple*

(Abraxan Hymns)

The latest Baroness album represents a triumphant comeback. After releasing the landmark 18-song double-album *Yellow & Green* in 2012, the band suffered a bus accident while on tour, leading to the eventual departure of two members. The melodic hard rock on the 10-track *Purple* album does not show signs of this past trauma or a divergence of the band’s aesthetic due to its reformation. The band already outgrew its “sludge metal” descriptor albums ago. In fact, this might be the band’s best effort to date. Lead singer/guitarist John Baizley--also an accomplished painter/artist of his own band’s album covers and dozens of other metal bands--exuberantly sings every line above the high-energy guitar-driven tempos. “Shock Me” “Try To Disappear,” “Kerosene” (which starts off with Mastodon-like chiming guitars), “Chlorine & Wine” and “The Iron Bell” are all standout hard-rock tracks, as good as any Baroness has released in the past.  “Fugue” is a beguiling instrumental track, and “If I Have To Wake Up (Would You Stop The Rain?)” is a slow-build ballad that is both melancholy and uplifting.

9/10