KOI NO YOKAN
[Warner Bros.]

It can’t be easy to fill the shoes of a beloved bassist like Chi Cheng, who has been semi-conscious since a car wreck in late 2008. After two albums with Deftones, however, Sergio Vega is finally sounding like he’s part of the family. Koi No Yokan rocks with more volume, complexity, and fury than 2010’s Diamond Eyes, thanks to Vega’s toothy attack (“Poltergeist”), punchy rhythmic control (“Leathers”) and fluidity with Deftone’s trademark psych-metal grooves, especially on the ever-morphing closer “What Happened to You?”