With new album Saturday Night Wrist waiting in the wings, Chino and co. are back with new single Hole In The Earth. Always a pleasure and never a chore, Deftones consistently high quality output has afforded them wide critical acclaim and a heaving fan-base. Cleverly ever-evolving with each album, have they done it again?
The star of the Deftones sound has always been the guitar and this single is no exception. Instantly recognisable grinding riffage is given a fresh twist keeping things interesting. Retaining flavours of the nu-metal and dream pop musical landscape they so heavily influenced, there is now a healthy dose of post-rock. This is no bad thing, as they incorporate the best parts of this but still retain their accessibility.
And what of Mr. Moreno? His soaring melodies are on pitch-perfect form but his usually intelligent and evocative lyrics seem somewhat churned out. However, this isn't such an issue when we're presented with the singles cataclysmic, bone-crunching denouement, reminiscent of Isis in some of their finer riffing moments. So all in all, not so much a return to form as a continuation of high quality music from Sacramento's Metal pioneers.