Behind him, guitarist Stephen Carpenter's heavy wall of sound is astoundingly muscular, yet inspiringly agile.

Vocal acrobat Moreno attacks a variety of styles: his breathy, psychotic recitations sound downright industrial, while the album's calmer, more brooding moments show his gift for haunting melody. Sepultura's Max Cavallero contributes guitar and vocals to 'Headup,' while 'MX' finds singer Chino trading off vocal lines with Annalynn Cunningham, (wife of Deftones' drummer Abe) in an acerbic take on the rock star mentality. The opening 'My Own Summer (Shove It),' serves as an introduction to the album's sonic theme: sinewy guitars and eerie whispers alternate with fast, violent crunch. It may be years from now, but the album's triumphant title track points to the band returning yet again someday with another genre-defying masterpiece.Around the Fur the follow-up to Deftones' passionate, aggressive Adrenaline, sees the California quartet expanding on the sheer rage of their earlier work, adding new, more sinister shades to their already extreme sound. Toss in the fact that legendary producer Terry Date reunited with the band for the first time since 2003, and it's easy to hear why some songs ('Urantia,' 'Error') hearken back to the band's Around the Fur days as others do their most experimental phases ('Genesis,' 'The Spell of Mathematics').

The confidence they have in their identity combined with their willingness to experiment has led them to be called 'the Radiohead of metal,' and considering their latest album manages to be their best in a decade, it's not hard to understand why While 2016's Gore polarized listeners with a complex assortment of influences and a muddy mix, Ohms plays like a greatest hits release composed of entirely new songs it's a victory lap. Throughout a career that's lasted over 25 years, the band survived nu-metal, revolutionized alternative metal by incorporating trip-hop and goth-rock influences, and nine albums later, they have yet to release a dud. D eftones operate in their own time and space, and by all means, they've earned that right.

Top 10 deftones albums