Deftones: everything we know so far about their new album 'Ohms'

Deftones fans have had only one wish: a new album from the band. Now, in the chaotic year that has been 2020, their wish will finally be fulfilled. Ohms will be released this Friday, the 25th, succeeding Gore (2016), and here Wikimetal tells you everything we know about the release so far.

The band teamed up with a legendary producer

It wasn't until February of this year that fans learned the news that Deftones had recruited the legendary Terry Date to produce Ohms . Terry produced the group's first four albums – Adrenaline (1995), Around the Fur (1997), White Pony (2000) and the self-titled 2003 album – and has worked with major bands such as Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon and Slayer . What a portfolio, huh?

The album will be an experiment by the band with various different sounds

In a 2019 interview with Kerrang!, vocalist Chino Moreno revealed that Ohms has been one of the band's "most fun phases": "We're in that mode where we're experimenting with completely different things," he said at the time. "And that's what makes the experience fun for us; not necessarily seeing what the outcome will be or what kind of album we're making – but just letting it happen. It's been good for us on that level."

The album title is a reflection of how Chino Moreno sees the group

Moreno explained the idea behind the name Ohms , which is scientifically defined as the ratio between a voltage of one volt and a current of one ampere, that is, the electrical resistance between two points of a conductor.

According to the vocalist, Ohms is the juxtaposition of what the band truly is: “It’s this balance and polarity of things. I’ve always described our band as having this yin and yang . As people, the music we make, and the lyrics I write, there’s always this juxtaposition, and that’s the beauty of what we create.”

The title track summarizes the entire concept and sound of the album

“Ohms” was released early to give fans a taste of what’s to come on the album, but according to Moreno, the track will make more sense when we hear the album in its entirety: “As the last song on the album, it’s kind of sung in retrospect — it’s looking back not only towards the batch of songs that come before it, but to our lives and our surroundings. The verses are reflective, but the chorus kind of says, ‘Yeah, that’s it, but that’s it’ — it’s saying that time will change with the decisions we make. It’s a question and an answer.”

“It feels like we’re in danger when the song starts with a riff that’s all angular and dirty, and then suddenly everything heats up with the chorus. That’s a good overview of where this album is, and what Deftones music is like in general.”

Ohms will feature ten unreleased tracks

With two singles already released, Deftones will feature a total of ten songs on the album. See the full tracklist below:

1. Genesis
2. Ceremony
3. Urantia
4. Errorr
5. The Spell Of Mathematics
6. Pompeji
7. This Link Is Dead
8. Radiant City
9. Headless
10. Ohms

We'll have Stef Carpenter... For real this time!

Gore had little involvement from guitarist Stef Carpenter , who, according to himself, "had no interest in playing on the album." Now, the situation is quite different. According to Chino, during the same Kerrang! cited above, the guitarist got involved and remained enthusiastic about the project throughout the entire process.

“He was involved in Gore , yes (…) Except for the lyrics and the drums, he wrote the album himself. He just wasn't fully connected to the work and it wasn't anything about the specific album, but rather because he was going through some things, and after the album was finished he came to talk to me and said 'Sorry I wasn't as available as I could have been' and I was like 'Dude, you're my brother, I totally understand'. When the album came out people felt it didn't have much to do with Stef but now everyone was completely involved and very excited, that's what matters.”

Although the album cover is a mystery, several crazy theories fit perfectly with the artwork… and here's our favorite (and the one most adopted by fans)

During an interview with an American radio station, drummer Abe Cunningham revealed that the creative process for the album cover was somewhat different. Artist Frank Maddocks, who has designed the covers for all of the band's albums since White Pony (2000), went to the studio to discuss some of their ideas with the members:

“We had some ideas and we were talking about them to see what could come out of it so he could create something cool. Then he came back with some things and we were like, the eyes, man, the eyes were just… they have an '80s vibe like the 'When Dover Cry' video by Prince. ”

Abe also commented on the (bizarre) coincidence of the album cover almost perfectly overlapping a famous photo of former bassist Chi-Cheng , who passed away in 2013. “There are some strange theories about the eyes, and it’s kind of crazy. There’s a photo of Chi that people have been sharing, which is quite famous, that they’ve been putting on top [of the album cover] and it fits perfectly with the eyes. It’s a coincidence, and it’s pretty crazy if you stop to think about it.”