DEFTONES, CRISTIAN MACHADO, KATAKLYSM AND THE OCEAN ALL RELEASE NEW ALBUMS
Deftones – Ohms
Ohms is the first album by the band since 2016’s Gore. At the time that Gore was released, Stephen Carpenter admitted to not being involved much in the writing process. Chino Moreno recently copped to the fact that the album was rushed.
The band really seemed to find their footing with Diamond Eyes, and extended that into my favorite album by the band, Koi No Yokan. As much as I enjoyed Gore, it just wasn’t as good as the band’s two previous albums. Checking out the first single off of Ohms, the title track, it instantly gave me a felling that the band had found a way to get back on course.
This is the shortest album of the band’s career. It sees Terry Date, who produced the band’s first four albums, work with them for the first time since 2003’s self-titled Deftones. Because the album is slightly more than 45 minutes, does not mean that the band ran out of inspiration. It feels more like they took their best ideas, and just focused on them.
Before the advent of the CD, and 74 minute albums, band’s weren’t scared to only release an album that was shy of half an hour. It was the best these bands could do at the time, and in hind sight, it’s better than getting a ton of forgettable filler. This becomes obvious when band’s reissue albums with bonus tracks that make you understand why they omitted the track initially.
With Ohms, Deftones has been able to capture what’s worked for them in past, and brought it into 2020. While people are busy classifying them as a Nu-Metal band, they’ve obviously missed the point. The band has evolved over the years, and been able to mix Chino’s unique voice, with the meatiness of Carpenter’s riffage. All the while the rest of the band, made up of Sergio Vega on bass, Abe Cunningham on drums, and Frank Delgado on keys and samples are layering in a back drop that can be psychedelic, dreamy, or flat out aggressive for the rest of the band to work with.
The album is receiving outstanding reviews. Even the snooty sites that tend to only focus on something this heavy to bash it are praising the album. This is a must have for any fan of the band. Will take the place of any of the first three albums as your favorite? Well, that’s up to you? Does it half to? No, not at all, there is no reason why you can’t still enjoy this album, even if it doesn’t hold the same emotional connection for you as White Pony or Around The Fur.
Here’s Deftones with “Genesis” off of Ohms:
Cristian Machado – Hollywood Y Sycamore
Machado was the long time singer of Ill Niño, a New Jersey metal band that in recent years splintered into two factions.
He could have taken the easy way out, and just released an album worth of music that sounded like his former band. Instead, this album is full of acoustic guitars, keys, flutes, and percussion that isn’t typically associated to anything remotely rock or metal related. The album is more reminiscent of Jonathan Davis’ Alone I Play, or Sully Erna’s solo work.
The album is a bold statement, and still incorporates some of the underlying Latin American elements that were kind of in the background of Ill Niño’s music. But it is also a big departure from what got him to the dance. A lot of the album is pop in nature, although it does contain a cover of the Pink Floyd classic “Welcome To The Machine”.
I can easily see this album garner Machado a wider fan base, but also alienate a lot of his die-hard fans. Let’s be honest, metal fans aren’t always the most open minded. And that may effect how some look at Hollywood Y Sycamore.
Here’s Christian Machado with “Die Alone” off of Hollywood Y Sycamore:
HERE ARE SOME OTHER RELEASES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU AS WELL
Kataklysm – Unconquered
The Ocean – Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic
Sorcerer – The Quarantine Sessions EP
RELATED: SORCERER GUITARIST KRISTIAN NIEMANN INTERVIEWED
Bob Mould – Blue Hearts
Jimmy Chamberlin Complex – Honor
Fish – Weltschmerz
Ayreon – Transitus
Torch – Reignited
P.J. Farley – Accent the Change
Lik – Misanthropic Breed
Nasty – Menace
Painted Doll – How To Draw Fire
Realize – Machine Violence
Hexx – Entangled In Sin
Chrome Waves – Where We Live
Alpha Wolf – A Quiet Place To Die
War Orphan – Closer To Death Than Life
VINYL REISSUES
Guns N’ Roses – Greatest Hits
ZZ Top – Live From Texas
Machine Head – Burn My Eyes
Dashboard Confessional – MTV Unplugged 2.0
Between The Buried And Me – Alaska
Igorrr – Hallelujah
Igorrr – Nostril
Intronaut – The Challenger
LIVE ALBUMS AND GREATEST HITS
Slade – Cum On Feel The Hitz
The Hives – Live At Third Man Records
Steve Hackett – Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live At Hammersmith
