Deftones had a big year in 2022, touring behind their excellent 2021 albumOhms (Warner Music). The band has a headline tour featuring Gojira, held their annual Dias De Los Deftones festival in San Diego, and more. The band will spend 2023 touring and playing festivals, like Welcome To Rockville. Stephen Carpenter has been sharing playthrough videos and he just released a new one featuring the White Pony album classic “Passenger” which features Maynard James Keenan of Tool, who also produced that track. Continue reading →
Deftones, even at their best, have been a band of dichotomies. That is what makes them a special band in the history of heavy music: opposing forces pulling and pushing them apart and back again. They may have been coming apart at the seams in the run-up to making Diamond Eyes (Reprise), and you couldn’t blame them. If you follow the band closely, you know the history. The band was nearly done tracking their highly anticipated album Eros in the fall of 2008, when founding bassist Chi Cheng was in a car wreck, on his way home from a funeral. Chi was left in a vegetative state, and the band was in shock. As Chi fought for his life (he passed in 2013, RIP), the band was left wondering what to do. They wanted to make music, but the experience with their best friend caused them to shelve Eros, never to be heard (almost never). When they came back together, the results were unexpected and wild. Continue reading →
Get in your way-back machine and set the dials for 1997. People back then had big 1990s optimism and even bigger pants (JNCOs). James Cameron’sTitanic was dominating the box office, and sadly two iconic women, Mother Teresa and Princess Diana died. Scotland cloned a sheep named Dolly, and the first of the Harry Potter novels was published. And a band from Sacramento, CA put out their second album. Of course, we mean Deftones and Around The Fur (Maverick). Not just any sophomore effort, the album would be a stylistic left turn for the band that was on the forefront of Nu Metal just a few years earlier. A classification the band would come to shun and remove themselves from over future releases.Continue reading →
Deftones have announced a new European/UK tour for April 2017. Full details are not yet revealed, but we havethe full schedule so far below.Continue reading →
One of the most anticipated albums of 2016 is here with Deftones’ long awaited eighth album, Gore (Reprise). While much has been made in the press by the band themselves of the growing division of styles and tastes between core members Chino Moreno and Stephen Carpenter, the reality is the band has always thrived on challenging themselves musically. Continuing the arc the band started with 2010’s Diamond Eyes and followed to a logical next step with 2012’s Koi No Yokan (both Reprise), musically they continue to flow back in more of the aggro-heaviness that made them shine early in their career. Meanwhile crafting sweet, dreamy shoe-gaze inspired jams takes equal footing without giving any ground. The blend of the two styles is magical most of the time. If there is any disharmony in the ranks, it doesn’t show in these beautifully crafted tracks. In fact, this is music that screams out “let’s get making with the love! Oooh yeah!”
Lead off track ‘Prayers/Triangles’ could be straight off of the White Pony album. The track has a persistent beat and is not overly heavy, but works well. A hypnotic, multi-layered vocal track from Moreno hits home, as few vocalists in modern music can make you feel what he wants you to in an instant. Considering his penchant for obtuse and poetic lyrics, this is quite a feat.
Much heavier and slower, ‘Acid Hologram’ creeps in with massive riffs and subtle melodies. Turntablist/programmer Frank Delgado adds a lot of sonic heft here as well. When the song pivots toward the end and steps up the sonic urgency, it is one of the best moments on Gore.
‘Doomed User’ is another top track out of the gate. Chopping riffs and that patented super-tight Abe Cunningham beat bring it home. I can’t wait to hear this one performed live. Similarly ‘Geometric Headress’ kicks in with a tribal beat, but has a very different feel by the end, almost a proggy, Tool-flavored affair track Chino’s lovely crooning coming in between periods of yelps of dismay.
‘Hearts/Wires’ finds them exploring their Joy Division jones before the epic chorus kicks in. In terms of dynamic interplay and lyrics, this is easily the best track on Gore.
One standout thing about the last few Deftones releases are the contributions of bassist Sergio Vega. Long past is the time when he was standing in for the late Chi Cheng, and is now a full-fledged, weight-bearing member. Cheng himself was a dynamic writing force on early Deftones albums. Vega has more than picked up that mantle now. Beyond putting his unique stamp on the songs, Vega pushes and pulls the tracks as well now too.
Tracks like ‘Pittura Infamante’ and ‘Xenon’ will call to mind the Around the Fur days of the band, which was the moment they killed off the nu-metal of their youth and became something much more deep and interesting as a band.
If this band made power-ballads in the traditional sense, ‘L(Mirl)’ would be the closest thing to one. Not at all typical, but an easy to digest track that grooves along. Switching it up, the title track comes next and it is like a DNA strand of the bands history. A little metal, a little gaze, and a lot of brilliant.
‘Phantom Bride’ is another standout deep cut. It’s as gorgeous as it is harrowing on the senses. It’s the most “Chino sounding” track here, but isn’t so way out that it sounds out of place. It also has a stellar guest performance from Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains adding some slick lead guitar and his trademark harmonized licks. I kind of wished the ending riff of the track would have gone on for a while longer, but it’s pretty satisfying still. ‘Rubicon’ is the album closer, but it has the energy of an opening track. A soaring, emotive song full of chaos and sadness all at once.
The hallmark of all the great bands is they continue to grow gradually across many albums and ages, without over-shooting when it comes to experimentation. This band remains unique in that they always sound like themselves, even when incorporating new influences and themes. Deftones remain the same, but spreading outward like a glacier. Solitary, beautiful, cold, and unstoppable.
Deftones/Death From Above 1979
The Forum
Los Angeles, CA
Southern California Deftones appearances have been some of their most magical shows, and tonight’s was no different, as they came out firing away and got the crowd amped upon the first note. Frontman Chino Moreno trotted around the stage and often marched right in front of the crowd, screaming ‘guns…knives…razors!’ (on “Rocket Skates.” The crowd was right behind him and got the high energy show going on a high all evening.
Chino Moreno of The Deftones. Photo Credit: Scott Uchida
Their set list span across their catalog of songs, and while they have yet to perform new material from their forthcoming album, fans didn’t seem to mind that their current set rocks just fine. Choice cuts such as “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” and “My Own Summer (Shove It)” had the crowd singing along and bouncing along with the band.
Stephen Carpenter of The Deftones. Photo Credit: Scott Uchida
They have grown to cover a wide span of sounds, from somber, ambient tunes (“Digital Bath,” “Change (In the House of Flies) to energetic yet melodic driven (“Knife Party”) to the harder driving tunes that got the crowd jumping along. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter and bassist Sergio Vega both play roles alongside Moreno with creating and projecting their riff driven sounds, while drummer Abe Carpenter and keyboardist Frank Delgado quietly set the pace for their overall vibe that brought out the wide array of reactions from the audience.
Sergio Vega of The Deftones. Photo Credit: Scott Uchida
The highlights of their set came during the two closing numbers – “Headup” with the crowd chanting “Soulfly” during the chorus, and longtime favorite “Engine No 9” (with an interlude of Ice Cube’s “Wicked”) that easily closed out another memorable evening.
Deftones Set List
Diamond Eyes
Rocket Skates
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
My Own Summer (Shove It)
You’ve Seen the Butcher
Sextape
Feiticeira
Digital Bath
Knife Party
When Girls Telephone Boys
Tempest
Swerve City
Passenger
Change (In the House of Flies)
Headup
Engine No. 9
Canadian dance-punk duo Death From Above 1979 came out with a somewhat minimal stage setup but made up with their eclectic music and somewhat resembles in parts a pseudo-gothic dance party. Vocalist/drummer Sebastien Grainger and bassist/synth player Jesse F Keeler both spent much of their brief set in the center of the stage, without much movement, but still managed to get the crowd into their bizarre sounds. Musically, Keeler’s synth driven overtones surrounds Grainger’s drumming while he is also handling vocals, which at times can be a bit confusing. While Death From Above 1979 is still new to most people, this outside of the box musical style is a breath of fresh air to a somewhat stale musical scene of today, and tonight was proof that creativity in music still exists.
