Deftones

Editor's Review:

Although this Sacramento quartet has been playing together for several years, it was their first CD release, 1995's critically acclaimed Adrenaline, that brought them worldwide renown. Adrenaline showcased their ability to channel pure emotion through powerful, explosive music and introduced the "Sacramento Sound" to the masses - that funked-up, heavy, stuttered, head-bobbing metal and punk-based rock that has been adopted by other bands from that area like Simon Says and Far. Make no mistake, Deftones originated that sound.

But while the Deftones' sound is heavy, thundering and mean-sounding, it is also intelligently crafted music. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than on the band's latest release, Around the Fur. With this, the group's second record on Madonna's Maverick Records, Deftones continue to play its brand of rock, but the band also explores its softer and more pensive sides. Singer Chine Moreno said recently in an interview that he and the other band's members - guitarist Stephen Carpenter, drummer Abe Cunningham and bassist Chi Cheng - had done some growing up, and Around the Fur reflects that.

"Mascara" begins with a simple guitar progression, eerie and hollow, accompanied by the soft yet broken voice of Moreno, and develops into a mid-tempo sonic release of cathartic proportions. The feel of the song, as reflected in the lyrics about abuse, is somber and deep. "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" is a departure from the band's usually crisply distorted sound and a trip into sloppier, all-encompassing distortion, reminiscent of the sonic emanations heard from many of today's indie rock bands.

And even though this new material shows Deftones' growth as a band, the group knows what the people what to hear, and there is plenty of that old magic here. The record's first track, "My Own Summer (Shove It)," begins with metallic, choppy guitar and sparse cymbal and tom work, then explodes into a chorus that packs quite a punch - classic Deftones all the way. Much of Around the Fur is Deftones in the classic light, and songs like "Lhabia," "Rickets" and "Head Up" are all thick with the emotion and power of Deftones, complete with alternating screams of Moreno and Cheng, the metal grooves of Carpenter and the pounding rhythms of Cunningham. Around the Fur continues a tradition of hard rock in its own extreme category.

- Max Sidman


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Record Label Maverick Records Released January 1999

Tracks 1. My Own Summer (Shove It) 2. Lhabia 3. Mascara 4. Around The Fur 5. Rickets 6. Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away) 7. Lotion 8. Dai The Flu 9. Headup 10. MX