Diamond Eyes Doesn't Develop, Dissapoint

Artist: Deftones
Album: Diamond Eyes

Comments: Like New Found Glory, the Deftones are a band that time forgot. Their fall from grace is not due so much to a decline in the quality of their music as it is due to a changing of society's taste. For the Deftones, the world turned and left them in 2000, when the band released their career high water mark White Pony at the same time that the rap-metal genre they were (unfairly) lumped into began to collapse. By the time all us grade school metal heads were listening to The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, the Deftones were an afterthought.

Of course, no one bothered to tell the Deftones they were old hat. The band released two more albums, a self titled album and their so-called “comeback” Saturday Night Wrist. Both records were received with somewhat mixed reviews. As if being passed by the public wasn't enough, in late 2008 Deftones bass player Chi Cheng was in a car accident that has rendered him comatose to this day.

And so, with little to no widespread attention and a man lying mostly-dead in the hospital, the Deftones have released Diamond Eyes, a holding-pattern album for a band with no motivation to hold pattern.

It is important to note that none of the songs are particularly bad. Most tracks follow the same trajectory the band set out on White Pony, especially “Rocket Skates” and “CMND / CTRL.” Nu-metal kids and hardcore fans will probably find things to like. Chino's vocals are as dexterous and as punishing as ever, and the band isn't hurting musically for the loss of their bassist.

I'll level with you: I have no desire to tie this band to a tree and bash them with my pretension stick considering that their only crime is operating in a stale genre. The album is good if you like the Deftones, but if you are some high-school nostalgic looking to get back into your former heroes, Diamond Eyes will be a disappointment.

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