Deftones made Koi no Yokan to sound like two bands fighting for control of the same song. That fight is the whole point. The album moves between heavy guitars and soft singing, sometimes within the same track, and rarely lets either side win. It is the band’s sixth record and their first since 2007’s Saturday Night Wrist, and it plays like a group trying to hold onto everything they’ve built while pushing toward somewhere new.
Opening With Swerve City
Swerve City opens the record at 2:44 and sets the tone fast — guitars cutting over soft singing, a push-pull that defines the whole album. Romantic Dreams follows at 4:38 and leans further into that contrast, with the band letting the music drift before the song snaps back into something heavier.
Leathers, at 4:08, picks up the pace without losing the record’s central tension. Poltergeist, at 3:31, is the shortest track here and one of the most direct, a straight rocker that doesn’t waste a second.
From Entombed to Graphic Nature
Entombed runs 4:59 and turns the contrast inward, with the band working through a quiet passage before the guitars return. Graphic Nature, at 4:31, closes the front half of the record on a high note, mixing the record’s two extremes into one tight, forceful song.
Tempest, at 6:05, is the longest track before the final stretch and tests the band’s patience — it holds together across its full length without losing the tension that defines the rest of the record.
Gauze, Rosemary and Goon Squad
Gauze, at 4:41, returns to the softer side of the band’s sound. Rosemary, at 6:53, pushes past six minutes and gives the record room to breathe, building slowly before it reaches its peak. Goon Squad, at 5:40, closes the record’s main body with a strong finish that ties together the record’s competing impulses.
What Happened to You?, at 3:53, ends the album on a quieter note, closing the record with a sense of resolution after its long journey.
Where Koi No Yokan Lands
Koi no Yokan is a record about holding two ideas at once, and it mostly succeeds. The band’s push-pull approach never feels forced here — it feels like the natural shape of their sound, carried through eleven tracks without losing its force. The record’s best moments are:
- Swerve City
- Romantic Dreams
- Leathers
- Poltergeist
- Entombed
- Graphic Nature
Those songs land hardest, and they land harder together than they would apart.
The weaker tracks don’t break the record’s shape so much as fill out the space between its strongest ideas. None of them drag the record down, but none of them add much either.
Final Verdict
Koi no Yokan is a confident record from a band that knows exactly what it wants to do. It asks listeners to sit with two sounds at once and rewards anyone willing to follow both threads. The record’s score sits at 80 out of 100 on Metacritic, and that number feels right — this is a strong album with a clear identity, even when it stumbles.
The band’s best work comes from trusting that tension, not smoothing it over, and Koi no Yokan trusts that trust fully. It’s a record worth hearing in the dark, with the volume turned up, exactly as some critics have suggested.
- Swerve City2:44
- Romantic Dreams4:38
- Leathers4:08
- Poltergeist3:31
- Entombed4:59
- Graphic Nature4:31
- Tempest6:05
- Gauze4:41
- Rosemary6:53
- Goon Squad5:40
- What Happened to You?3:53
