It took me a while to get into the Deftones. The ebbs and flow of my opinion of them are well-documented on my social media: a few years ago, I took it upon myself to figure out how I felt about them once and for all, and dove headlong into their discography, taking detailed track by track notes of each album, which shift between aggressive alternative metal and dreamy shoegaze. Their discography sometimes feels like a fight between these extremes, heavy riffs sitting uneasily against the more billowing songs on the tracklist.

But here, Deftones frontman and admitted The Cure fanboy Chino Moreno opens the record singing, “I’ve finally achieved balance.” And then the band spends an entire album proving that they’ve one just that. Over thirty years into their career, Ohms might be the most cohesive and consistent record in their catalog.

Let me be very clear: Deftones have never released a bad record. Theirs is one of the most consistent discographies in rock and roll history (especially considering they cut their teeth in the much maligned nu-metal scene of the mid-to-late 90s). Even the panned albums in their catalog (read: Gore, Saturday Night Wrist, Deftones) are incredibly rewarding. Honestly, whenever I’m in a Deftones mood (which is often), I often just choose at random.

But if there’s one hurdle I’ve had to leap over in their discography, it’s that the track lists sometimes shift between moods with whiplash inducing speed. The hardest thing for me to stomach has always been the aggressive tracks, which sometimes serve as a reminder of their nu-metal roots. I’ve always loved the more melodic tracks (“Minerva,” “Change,” “Cherry Waves,” “Entombed,” etc), but those songs sometimes feel like diamonds in the rough, shining treasures that make the trudge through the aggro-metal tracks more bearable.

Ohms suffers from no such polarity. And “Genesis” is a fitting thesis statement, even beyond its opening line. With its intro filled with shimmering synths and delay-heavy clean guitars, it seems like it’s going to be on the softer side—until the guitars kick in at full volume and Chino shifts between his trademark druggy coos and half-screamed aggression in the same line.

Even the heavy tracks here are tempered with their own stunning melody. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in “Urantia,” which opens with a blood curdling riff that leans closer into hardcore than anything the group has done (no doubt a holdover from Sergio Vega’s other band, post-hardcore legends Quicksand). But after the blistering, drop-tuned power chords, the song actually gets kind of chill. “The Spell of Mathematics” is similarly balanced, pairing a heavy, swaggering guitar part reminiscent of Diamond Eyes’ seductive loudness with moments of near trip hop.

This balance is maintained throughout the album. The softer songs still have an edge to them that can counter any metalhead who has dismissed them as a “sleepy” band (seems wild, but I’ve heard such a claim multiple times). “Pompeji” sees the most extreme shift, pairing the album’s most subdued verses against one of the heaviest choruses. “Error” might be the closest that Deftones has gotten to Palms, Chino’s dream metal side project with former members of post-metal pioneers ISIS. “Radiant City” features one of Chino’s dreamiest melodies in the verse, but its accompanied by a fierce double-picked bass riff. That track also features a yelling prechorus and a practically triumphant hook. The soaring chorus of “Headless” is punctuated by chugging guitars and angular drums. It probably could have done well as a single, but seated deep in the B-side, it will likely be largely forgotten.

Closer (and lead single) “Ohms” rides a doomy swagger that probably could have been nabbed from a band like Khemmis or Sleep. But with Chino’s drawn out delivery and Abe Cunningham’s synth atmospheres, the song nowhere near as funereal as the riff could have made it.

This is the seventh Deftones album in my collection. But even after becoming quite familiar with their discography, there are still some songs that I sometimes need to muscle through—even on my favorite discs. But my love for Ohms was immediate and complete. Nothing on here is bristling or abrasive—even at the album’s harshest. As Chino declares at the start of the record, Ohms finds Deftones having achieved balance: a precise chemistry that created what might just be the best album in their catalog. And after twenty years since what many consider to be their masterpiece, that’s no small feat.