After releasing their masterpiece, 2001’s White Pony, the Deftones left fans expecting either a further excursion into that album’s ethereal metal sound or a return to the rap-rock at their roots. Instead, two years later they release this eponymous record, a confusing attempt at satisfying both expectations. One wonders if the band feared they were going too soft on their last record, as the majority of Deftones comes at the listener like a sonic blur of distorted, detuned guitars and singer Chino Moreno’s tortured screams. Those very screams, which sounded ferocious and cathartic on older songs like “7 Words” and “Be Quiet and Drive” are starting to sound whiny. Many of the better songs here, like “Good Morning Beautiful” and the single “Minerva,” sound as if they could have been outtakes from White Pony. The best tracks here are the sparse, electronic “Lucky You” and the piano-driven “Anniversary of an Uninteresting Evening.” These represent what I expected, that is, a further leap into experimental sounds that can only help their songs. The Deftones sound more like a band lost at a crossroad. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that they find their way.