The wait continues. Sixteen years on from their genre-transcending third album The White Pony, Deftones have yet to equal the drama and dynamism of that record. Sure, there have been flashes of brilliance on every subsequent release but never the same sense of start-to-finish sonic satisfaction from their mix of rage, romanticism and riffage.
There's no change to that narrative on Gore, although it's more of a grower than wearying initial listens may suggest.
From a heart-stopping Chino Moreno vocal to new-day-rising atmospherics or some old school crunch from guitarist Stephen Carpenter, there are moments of sheer beauty or bolt-of-lightning genius scattered throughout, yet far too often they don't become the truly memorable songs that Deftones have it in them to make.
There's a real feeling here of the quintet being slaves to a dirgey template that belongs on single b-sides or tour pit-stop eps. Phantom Bride's big day is marred by the bloody-mindedness of sticking on a big lump of a mosh part at the end - and you'll find other examples of such folly. Ironically, the double-monikered Prayers/Triangles and Hearts/Wires prove to be twice the tracks of their peers, and the most complete compositions here.
Deftones' original bassist Chi Cheng passed away in 2013 after five years in a semi-comatose state from injuries sustained in a car crash. It's up to every listener to read whether vast swathes of Gore's lyrics are about the tragedy. Either way, there is a huge sense of sadness while listening but, crucially, the album ends on an upbeat note with the lyric "The record's ours to break and the more we build the crowd goes wild". That sounds like a band ready to shake things up - how apt that the inlay photo shows them walking into sunlight.
Harry Guerin
