Idk it's one of those SNW songs I've always been indifferent to Doesn't touch Beware, Riviere or Hole In The Earth
Kimdracula makes me feel like I'm floating every time--the opening part into the band swinging in is heavenly
Cherry Waves is a beautiful example of the huge wall of sound this band is capable of. In league with Minerva for me. Frank's keys are a standout on that track.
Cherry Waves is good but I don't think anywhere near their zenith. I personally couldn't care less about Xerces.
a lot of scattered thoughts incoming: locked club is cool, I like it more as it goes on, there is something about the way it starts that still catches me a bit offguard. interesting how the second track on both this and Ohms mentions joining a parade. idk if it’s an intentional thing or not but still interesting to me no less lol. ecdysis is a highlight for me, the bassline driving the verses is great and the way it grooves with the drums reminds me a bit of Dai the Flu and I adore the way the guitar comes in halfway and locks in with what the bass is doing. infinite source is possibly my favorite on the whole record, kinda duking it out with milk of the madonna for the title. love the harmonic riff motif, love the chorus, and especially love that bridge. it’s a homerun, one of their best “shoegaze” leaning tracks, and one of their best songs of their later career period. Souvenir has some parts I really love and some I am a little cooler on, I don’t personally feel the Cherry Waves comp tho. reminds me more of the last couple tracks on Diamond Eyes maybe, especially the tom-heavy chorus that kinda feels like it’s suspended in the air. I do really love how this song comes in full force after infinite source tho. cXz is another favorite for me, I love how perilous the verses sound, Chino’s delivery over the dissonant soundscape sounds panicked and it really works for me. the “constaaaant zerooooes” hook is one of the catchiest parts of the album to me. good shit. I think about you all the time is another highlight, really gorgeous song, I like how it takes its time getting to the full band entrance, gives it all the more weight when it does come in. cut hands is a fun track, I could see it in my top 5 when the dust settles. I think it’s fun when Chino busts into the talky, kinda rapped delivery, which does harken back to their earlier records a bit, but more so here reminds me of CMND/CTRL. the real hero of the song tho is the chorus, one of the best on the record for me probably, the cadence of “your eyelids getting heavy/feet no longer steady/running out of pennies” is so infectious. also even tho the ending is basically just ripped from Diamond Eyes, I might like it better here bc of the added dissonant chord call and response to the chunky riff. ~metal dream is really cool too, Chino’s delivery is not dissimilar to what he’s doing on locked club with a slightly different twist to it, and I might like it a little more here. I think the verses are really cool and experimental for them, musically. another great chorus. departing the body is a great closer, I love that Chino’s utilizing his lower range in a way he hasn’t really done before in Deftones, it really threw me off guard like it seems it has everyone else lol. it’s got a perfect sense of grandiosity to it that makes it feel like a perfect ending song. I do think it’s a curiously ominous ending with the glitchy sample, kind of in a way reminds me of Ohms in that that song is kind of a curiously optimistic/bright sounding song closing out an overall darker record, they’re like foils of each other in that regard to me. I had a really good listen of this yesterday finally spinning my vinyl copy. I think it’s just going to keep growing on me the more I listen. I don’t know if I am quite on board with the sentiment that it’s “their best record since ___ (insert whichever record you personally think they fell off at)”, as I am still very fond of Ohms and think that take kinda short changes how good that record is. I’m also not sure it’s gonna be a top 5 record of theirs for me either, but I also can’t possibly know that it won’t grow on me to that point either, it’s just that I am not having quite the same immediate reaction to it that so many are seeming to. it’s also just enough for me that it’s another great record, it doesn’t have to be their best in X amount of years or a top 5 contender or whatever, the band is still in great form and putting out quality music and still finding new twists to offer on their trademark sound. if I had to compare it to other records of theirs, I would say it kind of sounds like an aggregate of all of their post-Chi material so far, with a little sprinkling here and there of elements of their older material. I think it reminds me the most of Diamond Eyes tonally, but I find it much more interesting as an overall experience than that record thankfully, even if I think DE probably has the higher highs. musically I actually hear a lot of what they did on Gore in here too, but much more refined and better produced, and I think it’s a better record than that too. have seen some people draw S/T comparisons, which I personally don’t really hear at all, but I would be interested in hearing someone out on why they do.