Two listens in - this is so fucking good. Some stray thoughts: - Infinite Source is THE ONE, my god. - The vocal entrance in Departing The Body was a genuine jump scare. - Steph and Frank ain't messing around for all 42 minutes. The lushness at times is a true wall of sound (complimentary).
the more i jam this the more immersed i am with it, as per usual with this band. i really liked ohms but this feels like a great next step forward that takes the refocused instrumental chemistry of that album and gives it the palate of snw, really amazing stuff that keeps giving me more to love with each listen
Won’t have time for a full listen until tonight but I am really liking what I’ve heard so far. Infinite Source’s main riff is a highlight of the few songs I’ve listened to, I’m a sucker for harmonics and Abe’s drum groove is super catchy.
finally giving this a second listen now, on my mixing headphones (Beyerdynamic DT1990s). might save my full thoughts for after my vinyl copy arrives tho. I mean all around I think ATF is perfect, but my opinion on the music itself aside it could use a remix or remaster least of probably any of their albums (including PM).
obviously deftones have a rather singular sound and parallels between records are easy to draw but after a couple listens something about this feels singular in the context of their discog, like it really stands apart as its own vibe if I had to pinpoint the sounds it’s somewhere between gore and ohms with the production of diamond eyes/kny. but instead of a summation of their sound from 2010-2020 it feels like the beginning of a new chapter
As someone not at all well-versed with the band, the first thing that strikes me when listening to this is how incredible it sounds - layered and airy and huge.
general thoughts after my second listen: much more positive than my first listen impression, which was still positive but a bit muted. I dunno if the leak was maybe a little lesser quality of a rip or if I just listened to it a bit too quiet on my system but I found it hard to make sense of some sections of some songs, it sounded a bit mushy. on my headphones there’s a crispness that was not there on my first listen. THAT SAID… this thing is mastered hot as a motherfucker, like way too crushed for my preferences. this isn’t anything new for the band, but still. I feel like the Nick records get it the worst. not the biggest gripe in the world when the record itself is mixed well and the songs are all good, but I am hoping the vinyl master is an improvement for me in this regard. I’ll find out on Sunday. all that aside, I do actually really dig the mixing here, I think more than the other Nick records. I dig Chino’s vocals being tucked back a little in the mix, especially since they have a nice stereo spread to them, I feel like it helps them feel more grounded in the space the music exists in. I don’t really struggle to make Chino out in the mix despite this either, so it’s a success for me.
Put it on this time, in lossless through my AirPods Max over cable, and this thing is fucking booming.
their webstore told me my order is still processing, so it'll be a bit before my copy comes in. guess it doesn't matter as much since my new Kallax won't be here until the 3rd
Truly incredible that I saw these guys live for the first time at Ozzfest 1999 and here we are 26 years later and I'm just as excited for them today as I was then. And they're just as (if not more) relevant today.
A record store I love is having a listening party/merch giveaway tonight. Miiiiiight try and swing it.