Koi No Yokan by Deftones

This is my first music review and someone may ask why. The reason is simple. This time, a good music is novel to the soul.

I heard that the second coming will happen on 26th of May, 2013.  It's true, Deftones will scorch Manila once again after three years and black shirts will drench in blood, sweat, and tears. It's an exaggeration of course, because I'm sure it's mostly sweat. 

But thanks to this news, I just found the time to listen to their latest album, the seventh studio album titled Koi No Yokan which was released in November last year. 

Nu Metal is long overdue in the mainstream but those who remained loyal listening to Deftones since Around the Fur and White Pony days will be rewarded and those who felt the shame in listening to the old sound better throw their nostalgia away. If they sound good, they sound good. My own guerrilla collection of mixed, old, and later songs (ranging from AC/DC to Bob Dylan to Led Zeppelin to White Stripes) may not be easy to categorize in one specific genre but if they all sound good, nobody has that f*in right to unplug them in my ears. 

This collection of 11 songs for 51 minutes is just right on cue. The introductory song Swerve City is perfect as a take-off cut or rather, as a march-of-madness war anthem. Romantic Dreams may be the pseudo-carrier song of the album because it describes the Japanese title Koi No Yokan---translated loosely as "a premonition of love." The shock value of Leathers is a classic Deftones style as much as the catchy introductory beat of Poltergeist, minutes later. Judging the same rhythm and vibe for the intro of Entombed, I thought I was listening to a light version of Minerva. Listen closely to Chino Moreno's first and second line like a lazy banshee, and you'll hear the similarity, one is like a B-side of another. But still, I think Entombed is a decent song. Graphic Nature may sound retro but Tempest is a classic song in the entire 6 minutes. Gauze on the other hand, sounds almost like a Greyhoundz song but Rosemary's dreamlike progression into a headshaker is a plus. Goon Squad may be another retro-sounding Deftones song but here, the absence of Chi Cheng as a bassist (replaced by Sergio Vega) is significant. Lastly, despite its catchy beat, What Happened to You? is the song that may define the whole collection as a pacified and controlled Deftones album and one may wonder when will Cheng's signature low base return? What happened to you indeed. 

Listening to Koi No Yokan made me think that perhaps, there's life after Nu Metal after all. Still, if it sounds good, it sounds good regardless of genre.


Genre: Alt Metal, Nu Metal
Rating: 7.5 out of 10 banshees