Deftones
Saturday Night Wrist

THE REVIEW

I don't know if you're deeply familiar with the Deftones, but you should really listen to "Saturday Night Wrist" at least once; an album that differs again from its predecessor, yet remains highly inspired.

This time, the spotlight is on Delgado, the keyboardist, who manages to create dreamlike atmospheres where Chino's voice sings like a long lament, sometimes melancholic, other times angry. You move from tracks like "Hole in the Earth," where harmony and melody meld perfectly, creating a piece that at times echoes typically English sounds, to "Rats!Rats!Rats!" where the Sacramento quintet borrows the grindcore schizophrenia of Dillinger Escape Plan (naturally seasoned with the typically melodic Deftones openings). At the center, we find gems like "Cherry Waves" (worth the album purchase alone) or "Xcerces," which harks back to trip hop tendencies, with Delgado and Chino chasing each other in a melody halfway between a ballad and a post-rock piece.

The Deftones have managed to transform their style into an even more mature form (helped by the stimuli from the side projects Team Sleep and Phallucy) and after winning a Grammy in 2000, they have chosen not to formalize their music, but to make it a gem accessible to the few. What can I say, another hit for the Deftones, many will say that it can't be compared to "White Pony," but I feel like saying it's better this way, S.N.W. lives with its own soul and in its thousand facets cannot undergo sorts of comparisons....

Last treat: the album is produced by Bob Ezrin (Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, Pink Floyd) and even in this the Deftones hit the mark, "softening" sounds that in previous albums gave excessive coldness to the piece.

If you haven't bought it yet, run to the stores, if you don't know the Deftones well... too bad for you!!!