#11: DEFTONES – WHITE PONY

June 22nd, 2009 at 5:00pm
MetalSucks

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SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER CARLOS RAMIREZ OF NOISECREEP AND UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

21best1

whitepony

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #11 album, coming in with a total of 162 points…

Deftones, White Pony (Maverick, 2000)

Chino Moreno — Vocals, Guitars
Stephen Carpenter — Guitars
Chi Cheng — Bass
Abe Cunningham — Drums
Frank Delgado — Sampling, Electronics
Produced by Terry Date and Deftones

1999 was the year that the Deftones truly created their own little universe. Their first two albums, Adrenaline (1995) and Around the Fur (1997), were both chock full of bombastic guitars, new wave kissed vocal lines, and post-hardcore informed arrangements and their wide-scoped sound helped the Sacramento, CA band find audiences in various facets of the underground music scene. After taking a break from a tour supporting the gold-selling Around the Fur, the group got into their rehearsal space to work on the material which would become their third album.

The new songs pulled from the same left-of-center influences that they had always pulled from but on an entirely different scale. Released in 2000, White Pony was a revelation in sound and vision. This is the album where the Deftones hone in on the quieter, more subtle side of their sonic palette. “RX Queen” features some of the band’s most pop leaning vocal melodies but they’re wrapped in a jittery and often discordant sonic envelope. The buttery glitch of “Teenager” wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Massive Attack album, but Chino Moreno’s quivering vocal performance pushes and pulls the song into something completely fresh and truly vital.

Even though the Deftones were experimenting with wild abandon, that doesn’t mean they don’t bring out the heavy artillery. “Digital Bath” buzzes with a hypnotic rhythmic refrain during the verses but then explodes with sheets of over-distorted guitars coming off like a twisted blend of The Cure’s atmospherics and the muscle of Godflesh in the matter of seconds. “Korea” and “Street Carp” are savage in their approach and appealed to even the most staunch metalhead fan who couldn’t deal with the group’s changing sound.

Nine years later, White Pony still stands arms and shoulders above most metal/hard rock albums that have come out in its wake. Though the Deftones have released two fine albums since, even they have been working in the shadow of WP. The band suffered a tragic setback last year when bassist Chi Cheng slipped into a coma after a car accident, but the band has soldiered on with Sergio Vega of Quicksand and Absolution fame filling in for the time being. Their next album, Eros, will be released sometime in 2009 so we’ll have to wait to see if they deliver the goods again. The collection was produced by Terry Date (Prong, Pantera), who also helmed White Pony, so we expect great things.

-Carlos Ramirez

Download White Pony from Amazon

THE LIST SO FAR:

#12 – Tool, Lateralus

#13 – Mastodon, Blood Mountain

#14 – System of a Down, Toxicity

#15 – Nachtmystium, Assassins: Black Meddle, Part 1

#16 – Machine Head, The Blackening

#17 – Hatebreed, Perseverance

#18 – Lamb of God, New American Gospel

#19 – Mastodon, Remission

#20 – Shadows Fall, The War Within