Koi No Yokan

Deftones

Don't get me wrong, I love Deftones, but if you've read my journal entries on their self-titled record and their most recent record Ohms, you might get the opposite impression. So I want to shine some light on what is, in my opinion, their best album. Already, I can see the confusion on your face as you briefly look back up at the title and wonder how I could've spelled White Pony so incorrectly. The truth is that I never connected with that record super heavy, certainly not on the level of this late-stage great. So yeah, I'm talking about Koi No Yokan, a total package record that features some of the band's best songwriting, strongest performances, and a complimentary production style that is thick, heavenly, and all encompassing.

I honestly don't even know where to start on the songwriting. Koi No Yokan is so incredibly dynamic and each song feels like it has its own distinct personality. Swerve City has this very simple, steadfast groove that immediately sets a driving tone that just goes. Entombed is much more ethereal with it's rising tapped guitar riff and misty electronics. There are some tracks that straddle the fence like Rosemary which has very regimented, heavy verses, lush and hazy choruses, and a devastating djent-y outro. There aren't many songs that are better examples of perfect regulation of tension and release. In true Deftones fashion, there's a couple tracks that are total barn burners; just pure aggression (Leathers, Poltergeist, and Goon Squad). There's songs that are rhythmically adventurous like Romantic Dreams and Poltergeist which both move in and out of odd meters.

Since White Pony, Deftones has been incorporating these characteristics into their songs, so it's not like Koi No Yokan is novel in that regard. However, these songs are packed with so many amazing hooks that make this batch stand out so much to me. Everybody gets in on the action too. A common one I hear a lot on this record are these short little shrieks or yelps that Chino Moreno will deliver in the background and they'll echo them into oblivion. It never fails to hype me up. I'm also impressed with Stephen Carpenter's use of the full range of his eight-string guitar. He could opt to play the chugging riff in Romantic Dreams in the lowest possible octave every time, but he decides to play it an octave up the the first few times just so he can drop the floor from underneath the song later on. I already mentioned the ending of Rosemary which is another example of how Carpenter's restraint leads to a very unexpected, crushing finish. Abe Cunningham has an amazing drum fill that brings Romantic Dreams into it's final chorus. Even Frank Delgado, who's electronic contributions are often too subtle to notice, has a big presence on this record, namely on the track Gauze where his ominous bleeps and bloops sound like the Doom and Metroid soundtracks collided.

The performances from the band instrumentally are all amazing which is not too much of a shocker, but I do want to highlight Moreno's vocal performances. I would say that Moreno almost single-handedly has the power to make or break a Deftones song. He is an absolutely singular voice who does have the capacity to be quite inconsistent; sometimes too pitchy and the flow of his delivery can be a little awkward. In the case of Koi No Yokan, there are absolutely no vocal blemishes of the sort and I don't think Moreno has sounded more powerful. No other Deftones project sees him belting this often. Every time, he sounds so incredibly strong and majestic as his voice soars over the band's dense instrumentation. The hollers and the screams are also perfect. Leathers demonstrates that even after twenty years into his career, he can still turn out blood-curdling screams. Even in his more subdued moments, like on the chorus of Rosemary, or the verses of Entombed, he still manages to capture you with his alluring sense of melody.

I think that about covers everything I have to say. Koi No Yokan is the band's most consistent record on all fronts; songwriting, hooks, and performances (especially vocally). There are three songs, Graphic Nature, Tempest, and What Happened to You?, that pale in comparison a little to the other tracks, but I don't think they are bad by any means and certainly not worthy of being skipped. Even with that being the case, I must reiterate that every other track is exciting to the max; nearly flawless and never a dull moment, even with songs approaching the five or six minute mark. I'm sure many a Deftones fan will disagree with me and that's fine, but for me personally, I cannot build a stronger case for any of their other albums. Hands down, this was their finest moment.