Deftones
It's not terribly difficult to read Deftones' endless experimentation as indecision. Could the Sacramento, Calif., group really be as Korn-y as suggested by Around the Fur, its 1997 nu-metal breakthrough? On the smarter, artier White Pony (2000), the answer was a resounding no: Volatile frontman Chino Moreno exposed Fred Durst's rap/rock bursts with a moodier brood of vocals, and behind him, the band seemed to thirst for something more complex than cheap catharsis. But alas, that too was a ruse. In 2003, the eponymous follow-up turned out to be a middling, monochromatic affair -- the musical equivalent of a dithering politician shoring up the base. Like System Of A Down, however, Moreno's lesser efforts often still outshine his contemporaries' better ones (see the indie-rock offshoot Team Sleep), and on Deftones' most recent long-player, the 2006 release Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick), the band proffers a predictably uneven blend of post-hardcore blasts ("Rapture," "Rats! Rats! Rats!") and melodic, Bono-like balladry ("Hole In The Earth," "RiviŽre"). Mukilteo, Wash., speed-metal trio the Fall of Troy opens both shows. Tickets $30. -- Noah Bonaparte Pais
8 p.m. Tue.-Wed., May 22-23
House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 310-4999; www.hob.com
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