New Deftones

[SteveXFR]

I finally got around to listening to the new Deftones record and what a let down. I think they must have got Lars Ulrich to do the mix. The bass is just buried and only really appears to be mirroring the guitar part.

The best bit about Deftones for me was always Chi or Sergio's bass grooves so its a real let down. 

 

 

 

[MyNameIsMark]

I love Chi’s playing on ATF & WP, interesting, tasteful, solid. White Pony & Abe Cunningham in general are incredible. I sadly lost interest after that era, snippets like the one above don’t appeal 

[uncle psychosis]

Exact opposite experience for me. I think this is their best record in years. 

[HeadlessBassist]

I just listened to that track on headphones. The bass sound is actually very good and defined. The problem, as you say, is that it does get buried to an extent by that awful distorted rhythm guitar.

 

This is why I like playing in trios. More space to play with. 

[Chris2112]

From what I've heard so far, it's typical Deftones. You usually get a few bangers per album with great catchy riffs from Stephen and a few plodders/filler tracks. I haven't heard a track as good as 'when girls telephone boys' or 'CMND / CTRL' yet though. 

 

The bass work sounds absolutely fine to me, which is what I expect. The appeal of Deftones for me has always been the interplay between Abe and Stephen, particularly the way that Stephen is often happy to play in quite a 'sparse' fashion and really get his amp going. His style of riffing is like an elephant falling on your head, but even when Chi Cheng was on the bass, I always just found the bass parts to be functional but never with any particular flair. They fit alongside Stephen's parts and that was it. 

 

I'd love to hear them play with Ryan Martinie on the bass (with a Warwick Thumb rather than those weak-sounding Foderas he's playing at the moment). He wouldn't have to go full Mudvayne, rather just do enough to get some great growling bass tone and presence on the tracks. 

[thodrik]

I have only heard the first half of the album but I quite like it so far.

The whole sound of Deftones has changed post Chi. Carpenter now generally uses 8 string guitars which takes up a lot of low end space. The bass now takes up a lot of the midrange and doesn't have much sub-frequency content. Even when Sergio was in the band he often wasn't even playing downtuned like Chi was previously.

I don't think it is bad at all, just different. Still sounds like Deftones to me, though I actually like Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan more than a lot of the earlier albums.

 

[AndyTravis]

Diamond Eyes and Gore are still on constant rotation for me - White Pony remains one of my all time favourite albums.

 

I got into them when Around The Fur came out.

 

going to see them in Manchester…not sure who’s on guitar though as Mr Carpenter won’t fly anymore.

[SteveXFR]

Apparently Stephen Carpenter won't leave the US because he's worried about mass shootings. Seriously. 

 

I saw them on the Around The Fur tour at Bristol Anson Room. Absolutely brilliant night. I think I spent half the night crowd surfing.

[uncle psychosis]

I love Deftones and they're one of my favourite bands, but I'm not that bothered about going to see them - primarily because I'm not sure there's a sound man alive who can make their sound work live.

 

I think I'll settle for the gigs I've already been to. 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I dig it. Bass is very thick and present through speakers, but it's a bit of a roots-only bassline.

I used to love Deftones when I was at school, until I heard "Back To School" ironically enough 😆

I've revisited them from time to time over the years. I still consider Chi to be probably THE bass player of any genre though. He was the instrument.

[Chris2112]

2 hours ago, uncle psychosis said:

I love Deftones and they're one of my favourite bands, but I'm not that bothered about going to see them - primarily because I'm not sure there's a sound man alive who can make their sound work live.

 

I think I'll settle for the gigs I've already been to. 

 

Yes, it always comes across as a soupy noise live. Or at least it seems to, YMMV. They're really just a cover band live now anyway since their most important member has effectively become a recluse. Too many years of smoking weed and reading conspiracy theory nonsense on the net has fried his brain. 

 

Interesting to see Chi Cheng mentioned again, because he always struck me as a functional player who could have been replaced by any jobber at short notice. Could anyone point me to something remarkable he has done or a moment where he really shines? I've been listening to Deftones for over twenty years and I've never been moved by what he played other than to say he played the bass part on the tracks.

[SteveXFR]

Controversial but I thought Sergio was the better bassist 

[attackbass]

1 hour ago, Chris2112 said:

 

Yes, it always comes across as a soupy noise live. Or at least it seems to, YMMV. They're really just a cover band live now anyway since their most important member has effectively become a recluse. Too many years of smoking weed and reading conspiracy theory nonsense on the net has fried his brain. 

 

Interesting to see Chi Cheng mentioned again, because he always struck me as a functional player who could have been replaced by any jobber at short notice. Could anyone point me to something remarkable he has done or a moment where he really shines? I've been listening to Deftones for over twenty years and I've never been moved by what he played other than to say he played the bass part on the tracks.

 

 

For me I thought Chi Cheng had this very laid back groove that worked between the guitars and drums.

 

Simple and functional but with a great feel.