It seems fitting that in 2017, a year that saw me obsessively dive into the Deftones’ catalogue to determine if I like them or not (spoiler: I really, really, really, really do), it’s fitting that my last purchase of the year would be White Pony, the record most people regard as their magnum opus.

Listening to the melodic, shoegaze-influenced alternative metal of Koi No Yokan or Gore, there’s very little to suggest that Deftones was ever a rap-metal group. That trajectory is thanks to White Pony, the record that eschewed the nu-metal of their peers and becoming one of the best alt-metal bands in the business.
This change was in large part due to the group’s new emphasis on atmosphere and melody. Songs like “Digital Bath,” “Knife Prty,” and the eternal “Change (In the House of Flies)” made great use out of a quite-loud dynamic that became the blueprint for many of the group’s best songs. “Rx Queen,” “Teenager,” and the first half of “Pink Maggit” saw them using a quieter palette than ever before. “Teenager” even had electronic drums and acoustic guitars!
While there are no raps on this record, the band hadn’t completely shed their nu-metal skin. Some of the riffs are still drenched in hip-hop swagger—”Elite” in particular. But even these songs haven’t aged as poorly as most of their contemporaries. While songs like “Freak on a Leash” and “Nookie” sound like embarrassing time capsules, most of  White Pony sounds practically modern.
Which is good news, because I can’t stand rap rock anymore.

I’ve come a long way. Just two months ago, I was taking notes through Deftones’ discography, trying to figure out if I actually liked them or not.
​
Now, I’ve purchased my fourth record from their catalogue. Pretty safe to say I dig them…

But the difficult thing with a band like Deftones is that their material is so consistent that it’s hard to quantify their albums in any sort of way. Since White Pony (next on my purchase list), all of their offer the same blend of (surprisingly enjoyable) numetal aggression with blissed out shoegaze atmospheres. Their earlier albums spent their track lists doing one or the other, sometimes in jarring juxtapositions. But their more recent works expertly meld the two extremes of their work into cohesive songs.
Koi No Yokan is one of the most laid back albums in their catalogue, but it is by no means toothless. Despite the synths and atmospheric textures that coat the record, this album absolutely rips.
After an ambient intro, “Leathers” smashes into an ear-splitting numetal verse. I was initially turned off by this track. Until I reached the chorus, which finds Chino singing one of the most desperate melodies of his career. “Gauze” likewise starts with a rhythmic heavy metal riff, before opening up into a wall of shoegaze noise in the chorus. On the other end, “Tempest” starts in a plodding march, before catching fire four minutes in and exploding.
And while, admittedly, this is Deftones trick, that doesn’t mean it ever gets stale. These guys are masters of their scene for a reason. And throughout this album, they offer absolutely no clues that they were ever a radio metal staple.
​
They do however, offer “Entombed,” which is among my favorite songs ever. A shoegazy metal ballad filled with atmospheric synths and a chilled out tapped guitar line? Sign me up.