Deftones was originally formed by 4 men, those being singer Chino Moreno, guitarist Stephen Carpenter, bassist Chi Cheng, and drummer Abe Cunningham. They released their first album ‘Adrenaline‘ way back in 1995 with a raw, angry sound. It took the populous by storm immediately, and 30 years later, we have ‘private music‘ while Deftones is one of the most public bands.
Chino Moreno says in an interview about the album, when told the album ‘Exudes hope’: “It feels confident. When you’re not confident, you second-guess yourself a lot, and you’re not doing you. Looking back on these last two records – and I think they’re good records – I knew deep down that if we put in the work, we could smash those two records creatively.”
The tracklist consists of 11 songs, most of wish being fashioned in lower-case, just as the album name is.
Tracklist and rating( out of five.):
★★★★★my mind is a mountain: This track was the first to be released as a single, as well ass being the first on the album. It has a mystical sound to it, almost like descending from your plain into one of waiting, a holding realm.
★★★★★locked club: An odd one on the album but amazing. The verse instrumentals and vocals are straight from the Gore album, yet the chorus sounds straight from Saturday Night Wrist. A great combination of aggressiveness and melodic sounds.
★★★★★ecdysis: Sounds similar to how a song from White Pony would sound with modern production quality, while having a bit of Around The Fur’s ugliness. Could belong on one of those albums if it had older production quality.
★★★★★infinite source: The fan favorite from the record. The instrumentals create a wall of sound, Chino’s voice is nearly drowned out as it becomes another instrument.
★★★★★souvenir: Sounds to be about a partner/ lover falling asleep beside Chino, or a possibly sexually provocative meaning, as it induces a warm, intimate vibe while “discovering eachother’s ways.”
★★★★cXz: An amazing song, Sounds like a song right from Ohms or Koi No Yokan. However, it seems to get drowned out in this album. That doesn’t make this a bad song at all, it has some of the more aggressive instrumentals on the record.
★★★★★i think about you all the time: A song of tribute to the past bassist Chi Cheng, Chino Moreno’s best friend, who unfortunately passed away due to injuries from a car crash during the production of the Eros album. He Chino sings about wanting Chi’s help living his life without him, which shows the bond they had before the loss. A truly magical track of mourning, and a great sequel to Risk from Diamond Eyes, a song about doing anything to save an injured Chi. Possibly the most emotional track they have ever released.
★★★★★milk of the madonna: Transitions from the mourning of the last track to a high energy one perfectly, milk of the madonna was the second track to be released before the album dropped. It has a similar drum pattern to Mein from Saturday Night Wrist. Feels like skipping down a highway and keeping up with the cars.
★★★★★cut hands: Starts out with a muffled Chino screaming, immediately into a riff, vocals and tone right from Around the Fur, a chorus right from White Pony, melodic vocals mixed with screaming ones, the best description of Deftones’ sound would be this track, as it combines every era of their music as the final breakdown riff is straught from Diamond Eyes.
★★★★~metal dream: Sadly one of the weaker tracks on the record, as the vocals on the verses are odd. However, the chorus is an amazing wall of sound. It sadly sounds like any other Deftones song, it’s a good song but nothing special in their discography.
★★★★★departing the body: An amazing end to the private music album. It starts with a minute of ambience, going into mellow instrumentals. Then Chino Moreno jumpscares you with a new vocal range, as his voice sounds deeper than ever for the starting verse, going into the next bit is a wall of sound with some of Chino’s most dreamy vocals in a while. The song’s lyrics seem to be about two virgins experiencing something new together, pleasures they are afraid of yet are excited by, a thrill. Many of Deftones’ songs are sexually provocative and they’re damn good at it.
Final rating: This album was a rollercoaster of emotions, none of which were at all negative. Each song was powerful in its own individual way, yet it comes together gracefully in this record. I couldnt sleep at night without giving it ★★★★★.
