Deftones - Diamond Eyes Review

  

  So Diamond Eyes, is Deftones sixth studio album.  Deftones have been around since 1995, and only have six studio releases which for me is the only complaint I have with Deftones.  I just wish they had more material, because I love the Deftones.  They have always been one of my favorite bands.  They have a keen ability on meshing aggressive metal, with a hip-hop undertone as well.  They were one of the top bands in the nu-metal movement that started in the 90's.  Bands like Korn, Limp Bizket, and Linkin Park were also some of the groups that were in the genre as well, but the Deftones really separated themselves from the rest of them.  Stephan Carpenter says he grew up playing material from bands like Anthrax, Stormtrooper's of Death, and Metallica.  While also listening to hip-hop acts like Public Enemy, and LL Cool J.  You can definitely hear the progression in their music making abilities as the albums go on.  Stephan Carpenter's guitar playing techniques have increased so much since their inception.  I've always loved the tones that they were able to achieve with his use of abstract tunings, and odd numbered stringed guitars.  He is known for using an 8-string electric guitar in many of his songs which is able to give him a massive amount of tone and depth that the conventional guitar wouldn't normally be able to do.  My favorite album from the Deftones of all time is White Pony.  Every song on that album is excellent, and well constructed.  They meshed a lot of different vibes on that album with everything from heavy screams, and intense guitar parts, to soft acoustic melodic songs. 
   In 2007 Deftones went into he studio to start working on new material for their album that was to be called Eros.  In 2008 while in Santa Clara, California Chi Chang was seriously injured in a car accident, which left him a minimally conscious state.  He was moved to a better hospital that specialized in Brain like injuries to try and help with his recovery.  They released a statement on the their sight in 2009 that Eros would be indefinitely postponed  saying that
"... as we neared completion on Eros, we realized that this record doesn't best encompass and represent who we are currently as people and as musicians. And although those songs will see the light of day at some point, we collectively made the decision that we needed to take a new approach, and with Chi's condition heavy on our minds while doing so. We needed to return to the studio to do what we felt was right artistically.". They also said "The decision to hold off on releasing Eros has no connection with Chi's condition or anything associated. This was, and is, purely a creative decision by the band to write, record, and deliver an amazing product."
They had obviously grown a lot because of the trauma that they were going through with the stress of Chi's condition on their shoulders.  So I would feel the same way about the material, and shelf it as well.  Even though Chi remained in the hospital they kept busy on a small scale doing a few live shows with bands like Slipknot, and hip-hop bands like Cypress Hill.  They held a benefit concert for Chi and his family to try and raise money for his recovery which at that time he was showing no signs of progress.  Many of their close friends in music played, and made appearances for him like Cypress Hill, XZibit, Tommy Lee, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray, Mike Shanoda of Linkin Park, Rober Trojillo of Metallica, and many more.  In May of 2010 he was showing significant improvement, as he is able to track individual people with his eyes, make mumbled responses, ad slightly move his hands.  He has an 84% success rate which is really good considering the level of accident he had.  The car had flipped three times ejecting him from the vehicle.  They had to insert a breathing tube into his chest in order to allow him to breath otherwise he would've died before they got to the hospital.  His brain was completely shut down pretty much. His story is pretty upseting, and sad.  The insurance companies that they had for him stopped paying because he wasn't showing any signs of improvement fast enough so they stopped paying fo treatement.  That was unacceptable for his family and friends.  So we all hope that he makes a full recovery and will be able to return to the Deftones sometime in the future to rock the bass again.  Diamond Eye has a very melodic progression while keeping an in your face guitar presence.  Chino's singing ability has always been above reprieve, but I think he really tapped into himself and achieves a level of singing he has never done before.  This album is much more mature I think, probably due to the experiences they had with Chi's accident which is a good thing because those experiences helped them write one of their best albums yet.  So even though Chi wasn't a part of the album in body, he was a part in every other since.  The Production and sound quality on the album is also done very well.  My favorite tracks from the album are Diamond Eyes, Rocket Skates, and You've Seen the Butcher.  I really hope that they continue with this approach on their future material, and I really hope that Chi gets better.  I highly recommend going to youtube and watching his documentary its pretty crazy.  So on a whole I really enjoyed this album.  I just hope that it doesn't take another four years for the next Deftones album, but like I've said before you can't rush perfection, otherwise it wouldn't be perfect.  I gave this album a 9, and its well deserved.  I was real close to giving it a 10 but Chi's absence is definatly noticed so I couldn't give it a 10 sorry guys.  So I hope you enjoyed this review I know it probably was more on Chi's accident but thats what is going on in the world of the Deftones right now and will probably be for a long time because his progress is very very slow, but any is worth waiting for right.  So until next time, stay hard, and stay heavy.


Here are some videos from the album to give you guys a taste.  Enjoy