finally, a new review

Deftones
"Saturday Night Wrist"
(Warner)

Sacramento's Deftones have been kicking out the melodic-punk-metal-hardcore hybrid (otherwise known as "screamo") longer than most of the kids who populate the genre have been alive. Still, they have managed to evolve into a larger-than-life entity, whose fanbase salivate with every release, not unlike Weezer. Yet, the band has seldom has misses with the exception of 2003's "Deftones," which wasn't bad per se, just lazy. After many false starts, a few years and a near break-up, Chino Moreno and gang have returned to top form with "Saturday Night Wrist."

The lead single and album opener, "Hole in the Earth," is probably the poppiest song, as well as the most boring. It smells of a rip off of 2000's "Change (In the House of Flies)." Skip that track and that's where the album really begins.

"Rapture" embodies some of the same ol' same ol' (raucous guitars, sing/scream vocal changes) but manages to sound a little refreshing. "U,U,D,D,L,R,L,R,A,B, Select, Start" is an insturmental jam that sounds like it belongs with Moreno's Team Sleep project, but it's still a nice interlude between the rest of the album's metalriffic moments. "Wrist's" closer, "Riviere," is a moody song that captures the heaviness and beauty of the band's songwriting.

While it's not as strong as "White Pony," is more enjoyable than their self-titled record. Hopefully, the Deftones will continue to release more of these art-metal records before the band self-destructs. Then again, it seems that their best records are built on that type of internal strife.