Artist: Deftones
Album: Diamond Eyes
Genre: Rock
Label: Reprise

Generally, starting an album review is the simplest part of the entire process for me. I mean, anyone whose ever read a review expects to find some kind of hook opener [or closer] and informative line of “Idiot’s Guide” tidbits about the band, but for a band like The Deftones, that simply seems wrong. Having established themselves again and again while the masses flocked from trend to trend, these Sacremento, California based rockers stayed true to themselves and that deserves respect regardless of your level of concern for the group or passion for their music. That said, it’s been 3 1/2 years since Saturday Night Wrist left some of us with a sour taste on our musical pallet, but the group are finally back in action with the recently released Diamond Eyes.

While the cover may be elegant and haunting [that owl sticks with you once you’ve sat through the album in its entirety], the opening title track goes straight for the jugular with chugs that will make your brain tremble. Frontman Chino Moreno’s chilling croon floats above the distorted tones before a crashing chorus sweeps us up in one of the more passionate Deftones tracks in in recent memory. This groove continues full on throughout “Royal,” but takes a turn for the heavy on the flat out epic “CMND/CTRL.”

The hollow, yet distorted tones of “You’ve Seen The Butcher” pull you into a devil’s dance rhythm before exploding into 70’s stoner rock inspired hook that only serves to entrance you more before “Beauty School” loses the distortion for melody and atmosphere. Its hear the group really shines musically with a chorus that sounds constructed by a band three times the size of the Deftones. “Prince” follow suit before erupting into an ever swirling explosion of rock that only serves as an intro for the single, “Rocket Skates.” I was never sold on the song as being more than a single track, but it fits the record far too well to be put there solely for radio purposes.

Fans of “Digital Bath” will probably eat the ballad “Sextape” alive. It’s a bit more laid back than most would most likely expect, but Morino’s croon is simply impossible to deny. Being the smart band they are however, Deftones make a quick return to the rock with the riff driven “Risk.” The album then sticks to that path with “976-Evil” and adds a slightly more “suspenseful” twist for “This Place is Death.” While this may sound good, its actually where the album feels like it hits a brick wall. Both are great tracks, but fail to take the album any further than the previous nine and seemingly suspends Diamond Eyes from the ending it should have. The album builds and builds to a plateau, not even a final epic song arc, just a plateau of great music that doesn’t defy any already develop standards of excellence for the group.

You may think it seems a bit absurd, but with even a single solid listen from beginning to end I think you’ll note the plateau the album takes in the final tracks. Yes, they are good songs regardless of whether or not they push the band, but Deftones have a lengthy catalog of “solid tracks” so why celebrate adding more of the norm? Diamond Eyes starts with intensity that you can’t turn away from and continues to evolve for quite awhile, but when no payoff comes, you’ll wonder how great the trip really was.

Score: 7.5/10

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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