Review: Deftones’ “Diamond Eyes” (2010)
The alternative metal stalwarts sixth album is a triumphant yet bittersweet journey in the wake of tragedy
After their highly experimental and hedonistically sonic Saturday Night Wrist, which was recorded over a troubling two years for the band, Deftones wanted to bring themselves back to basics and just get together and write a record like a real band. It’s a natural decision when a band gets lost over the course of their career, like The Beatles did when recording Abbey Road and plenty of other bands who decided to cut the shit and give the fans what they want. That album wasn’t called Diamond Eyes though, it was called Eros and it was supposedly written and recorded throughout 2008 and expected to be released in early 2009. It was a great time for Deftones, it looked like they were getting back on track and their next album would be great. That is until tragedy struck the band
The bands bassist Chi Cheng was involved in a car crash that left him in a coma in November of 2008 the band respectfully put Eros on hold until Chi Cheng would recover. Unfortunately the bands longtime bassist did not recover and passed away after being taken off life support in April 2013. In the early months of the bassist being in a coma the rest of the band enlisted longtime friend Sergio Vega, of Quicksand fame, to create an album as they didn’t want fans to wait too long for the next one.
Opting to not release the unfinished stuff from Eros the band whipped together Diamond Eyes in two months. Any other major rock/metal/alternative (whatever) band would probably churn out a pretty shitty album in that time but Deftones always kept their underground roots in mind. Surprisingly Diamond Eyes, for an album put together over a short amount of time is actually quite enduring amongst the bands discography.
The band wanted to make a more uplifting… actually that sounds like an improper word to describe Deftones, they’ve never been uplifting so I guess I’ll say it’s more optimistic. That optimism is felt through the music which I must say feels quite alive. It’s definitely some of Steven Carpenter’s best guitar work since White Pony. I loved Saturday Night Wrist, don’t get me wrong but on Diamond Eyes his guitar playing feels even more lively and energized. I suppose this is apparent in his use of an eight-string guitar, the first time he’s utilized one on a record, he sounds like he’s challenging himself and when the Deftones challenge themselves and I mean truly challenge themselves they can really shine brightly.
From the opening of the album however it can be difficult to see why the album has endured so much for the band. Diamond Eyes is an album I hear mentioned alongside some of the bands best work like Around The Fur and even White Pony so going into it with that in mind can make the beginning a bit sluggish. The title track sounds pretty standard and unassuming, it’s got some heavy riffage and amazing vocal work from Chino Moreno as he croons the chorus “Time will see us realign/Diamonds reign across the sky/Shower me into the same realm.” All the pieces for a great Deftones track are here on this song, strong rhythms and even a brief yet hefty breakdown but it just doesn’t take the album off very strongly.
The following song “Royal” begins and the album to me almost seems out of order, like this song shouldn’t follow this one. That’s a strange feeling to get with an album but it hurt the opening two songs, despite some seriously heavy sounds and good vocal performances, nothing was jumping out at me with this album. Once the song “CMND/CTRL” comes in the album grasps me by the shoulders and has my attention finally. The stop and go rhythm remnant to a Helmet song is perfectly infectious, it felt like something the Deftones hadn’t broken out in years and have now polished off and utilized with their new skills. It’s at this point I’m truly in for the ride this album is taking me on and it rarely lets up after this.
Still carrying the heaviness forward is “You’ve Seen The Butcher” which features some more very bouncy, mosh-ready riffs for Deftones fanatics to love. It’s pretty damn tight and I have to mention how well the production on this album is, each song is crisp and the drums from Abe Cunningham have some weight to them. He really carries this song the best here and also does an amazing job with the tempo changes on the song “Prince” jumping from the traditional chugging along with the choruses to the slower beginnings of the next verse. He’s an outstanding drummer and I feel like he doesn’t get enough credit for all that he’s done for the alternative metal scene.
“Beauty School” is where we get back into some of the Saturday Night Wrist territory, the spacey and heavily shoegaze sounding tracks which I think made that album standout. It’s a lot less dark sounding but it’s still the kind of Deftones song that brings out your most carnal desires. This is also obviously found on the song “Sextape” which is one of my personal favorites from the album. Here the band feels otherworldly, like they’re creating steamy music in a futuristic society and progressive is just what Deftones have always tried to be.
The albums concluding tracks “Risk” “976-EVIL” and “This Place Is Death” is one of the most diverse and superb finales to a Deftones album in recent memory. While “Risk” keeps the heaviness well in tow the following two tracks ebb and flow between very spacey soundscapes but also sonic mastery. “This Place Is Death” in particular feels like a the beginning to a new journey as the guitar builds and builds during the choruses only to finally come crashing down with the albums completion. It’s beautifully crafted and again I’d hate to say uplifting but you certainly leave the album wanting more.
Despite a slow start to this album it does earn its place amongst the Deftones discography and signaled a new beginning for them. It doesn’t stand amongst them as the most experimental and pleasing of the bands albums but it definitely brings their sound somewhere new. There are some moments where the band appears sluggish and weighed down but there’s always something grabbing your attention and it makes the listening experience an enjoyable one. Chino Moreno may also not be very interested in weaving narratives into songs that young, frustrated listeners will relate to but he can’t be expected to do that forever. It’s time he experimented a little bit and he does that to varying degrees here, even if some of the lyrics seem somewhat nonsensical at times.
With the coming decade they released two more albums expanding upon the sounds Diamond Eyes toyed with. It’s an album they can be proud of because it showed their resilience in the wake of a terrible tragedy to the bands makeup. Losing a key member to your band is never easy especially when they stood by you through trivial times. Regardless of their situation Deftones seemed to carry forward with an attitude of accepting the reality we are placed in and making the best of it all. This album looks toward the future, despite how dark it may appear, with eyes forward. For once in the bands career they appeared truly hopeful.
