48. Deftones - 'Ohms'

If my relationship with The Deftones was a Facebook status it would say "it’s complicated". I adored “White Pony” and 2003’s self-titled masterpiece. To my ears they sound other-worldly; they had Metal’s power and aggression, but they managed to traverse genre boundaries. Sadly, subsequent releases left me cold until 2016's “Gore” once again pulled me back in. It seduced me with its alternating layers of noise and fragile melody.

Thankfully “Ohms” is even better, that wonderful juxtaposition of aggressive coarseness and dreamy pop has been dialled up another couple of notches. They seem to have once again found that perfect balance between experimentation and direct delivery. Each track is made of contrasting but complementing layers, an effect makes the whole album feel alien, yet at the same time very familiar.  

Once more, The Deftones have managed to make a metal album that doesn’t quite feel or sound like a metal album. They have emphatically coloured outside the perceived lines of our genre and in doing so have created a record that equally challenges and confounds but still manages to be an enjoyable listening experience.