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It’s quite ironic that the fact that Deftones is finally back on their right track after their bassist Chi Cheng lay unconscious in a comatose state after a car accident in 2008, and forced them to put their unreleased material ‘Eros’ on hold.

However, we have to admit that Deftones post White Pony era was dreadful. Both self-titled album (2003) and Saturday Night Wrist (2006) were the records where they were confused and didn’t quite live up to the expectation the audience had after the cult classic White Pony (2000) Thus, no one would have expected that their album in 2010, Diamond Eyes, would be a massive change from the previous two albums. Diamond Eyes for me was a massive record. Explosive, brutal, yet beautiful.

It is true that success builds expectation. People would have expected that Deftones would release an album like White Pony after it was released, now it has repeated again after Diamond Eyes. Koi no Yokan that was released recently is expected to live up to the legacy that Diamond Eyes has created.

Koi no Yokan literally means ‘Premonition of Love’ in Japanese. Sounds simple and romantic, isn’t it? In an interview from Metal Hammer magazine, frontman Chino Moreno confessed that the title was nicked from fellow metal frontman, Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan.

Despite the album title, it doesn’t change their attitude in terms of music. Koi no Yokan is exactly the kind of follow up that I’ve expected. ‘Swerve City’ opens this album with hard hitting riffs when you play this album for the first time, then moves onto the chorus that sounds grand. One thing that I notice from Chino’s vocal in Koi no Yokan is that he doesn’t scream as much as he did on the previous album. However, when he does it here, it’s far more than outstanding as exemplified in their first released track of this album, ‘Leathers’.

The album has been massively explosive, especially with Stephen Carpenter’s guitar riff that is literally everywhere in this album. In this album, I’ve been expecting ballad beauty such as ‘Beauty School’ and ‘Sextape’ in the previous Diamond Eyes. Though it’s not something similar to the previous two songs, ‘Entombed’ is the exact equivalent of the previous two. It’s a majestic song, relying on Frank Delgado’s subtle touch on the keys and synths while Stephen Carpenter consistently blurts out the riffs.

I find the songs in Koi no Yokan to be as perfect as they could be. From ‘Tempest’ to ‘Gauze’, and especially the epic ‘Rosemary’ that nearly hits seven minutes mark.

After finishing this album again, I can easily put this album amongst the best albums of 2012 and amongst the best Deftones’ albums so far. I’m giving this album a 9/10 ratings, simply because it is that good. This is a great album from Deftones, a masterpiece. And somehow after I finished this album for the first time, I could understand how ‘Koi no Yokan’ fits this album perfectly. Hopefully, Koi no Yokan will be remembered as Deftones’ classic in the future, just like White Pony for today’s generation.