DEFTONES - WHITE PONY

The screaming Sacramento born metal band Deftones strike again with White Pony.

I made the wise judgement of not buying White Pony right away...a few months after it was released to the public, the Deftones recorded another track (Back to School) and decided to re-release the CD with this bonus included. As it is, Back to School is one of the better songs on the CD, and I can't imagine owning this album without it, since the track count would be down to 11.

Okay, so the spit-as-you-talk vocals are still unrelenting, and the guitars still play the same harsh chord, but it somehow works. Maybe it's the brand spankin' new Deftones DJ that joined the team...who knows. It doesn't really matter. White Pony gives way to a less raw sounding record than Around the Fur, much easier on the ears, which is perhaps due to the partial knowledge of how to play guitar this time around.

That's not to say that the Deftone's previous efforts were no good. Hell, I enjoyed 'em thoroughly, and Deftones are one of my favourite metal bands to date - it shows you don't need obscenity laden lyrics to pull of a good metal album.

It's almost a given that many people will not like the Deftones...the music is still very unrefined (not as much as Slipknot)...(something that in my opinion is to its merit), and sometimes it's freaking impossible to understand entirely what's being said on the CD.

When it all comes down to it, give the White Pony a ride. You just might enjoy it. ARTIST: Deftones

ALBUM TITLE: White Pony

NUMBER OF TRACKS: 12

LENGTH OF ALBUM: 52 minutes, 45 seconds

FAVOURITE TRACKS: Back to School (mini maggit), Korea, Passenger

QUALITY: 4.4/5