Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California, in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado joining the lineup in 1990 and 1999, respectively.
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California, in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado joining the lineup in 1990 and 1999, respectively.
After the lineup settled in 1994, Deftones secured a recording contract with Maverick Records, and subsequently released their debut album Adrenaline in 1995. Extensive touring and word-of-mouth promotion of the album helped Deftones garner a dedicated fan base. Their second album, Around the Fur (1997), was certified platinum in the US. The band found further success with their third album White Pony (2000), which marked a transition from their earlier, more aggressive sound into a more experimental direction; its track "Elite" won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. Their self-titled fourth album was released in 2003 and debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200. Deftones' fifth studio album, Saturday Night Wrist (2006) was marred by creative tensions and personal issues within the band, some of which influenced its material.
In 2008, while Deftones were working on an album tentatively titled Eros, Cheng was involved in a traffic collision. As a result, he was left in a minimally conscious state until his death in 2013 of cardiac arrest. After Cheng's accident, Deftones halted production on Eros and recruited Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega until his departure in early 2021. Since 2010, the band has released five albums, Diamond Eyes (2010), Koi No Yokan (2012), Gore (2016), Ohms (2020), and Private Music (2025), to critical acclaim.
On March 29, 2012, Carpenter revealed that the band were working on a new record in an interview posted on ESP Guitars's YouTube channel. It was reported that Raskulinecz would return to produce their as-yet-unnamed seventh studio album.
It was also reported that the band would be recording several B-sides for the album, including an Elvis Presley cover and possibly an Earth, Wind, and Fire cover. It was later announced that there would be no bonus tracks. On July 28, Deftones performed a brand-new song titled "Rosemary" and also debuted another track titled "Roller Derby" (later retitled "Poltergeist"). Continuing the experimental direction of Diamond Eyes, Koi No Yokan was announced on August 30, 2012, and released on November 12, 2012, by Reprise Records. Metacritic rated Koi No Yokan 86 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim" based on 18 reviews. In May 2013, it won Revolver's Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year.
On April 13, 2013, despite making a partial recovery and returning home, Cheng died in a hospital in his hometown of Stockton, California, after falling into cardiac arrest. It had been more than four years since his 2008 accident. Moreno announced in May that the album Eros, shelved in 2008 after Cheng's accident, was now more likely to be released following his death.
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California, in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado joining the lineup in 1990 and 1999, respectively.
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California, in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado joining the lineup in 1990 and 1999, respectively.
After the lineup settled in 1994, Deftones secured a recording contract with Maverick Records, and subsequently released their debut album Adrenaline in 1995. Extensive touring and word-of-mouth promotion of the album helped Deftones garner a dedicated fan base. Their second album, Around the Fur (1997), was certified platinum in the US. The band found further success with their third album White Pony (2000), which marked a transition from their earlier, more aggressive sound into a more experimental direction; its track "Elite" won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. Their self-titled fourth album was released in 2003 and debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200. Deftones' fifth studio album, Saturday Night Wrist (2006) was marred by creative tensions and personal issues within the band, some of which influenced its material.
In 2008, while Deftones were working on an album tentatively titled Eros, Cheng was involved in a traffic collision. As a result, he was left in a minimally conscious state until his death in 2013 of cardiac arrest. After Cheng's accident, Deftones halted production on Eros and recruited Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega until his departure in early 2021. Since 2010, the band has released five albums, Diamond Eyes (2010), Koi No Yokan (2012), Gore (2016), Ohms (2020), and Private Music (2025), to critical acclaim.
On March 29, 2012, Carpenter revealed that the band were working on a new record in an interview posted on ESP Guitars's YouTube channel. It was reported that Raskulinecz would return to produce their as-yet-unnamed seventh studio album.
It was also reported that the band would be recording several B-sides for the album, including an Elvis Presley cover and possibly an Earth, Wind, and Fire cover. It was later announced that there would be no bonus tracks. On July 28, Deftones performed a brand-new song titled "Rosemary" and also debuted another track titled "Roller Derby" (later retitled "Poltergeist"). Continuing the experimental direction of Diamond Eyes, Koi No Yokan was announced on August 30, 2012, and released on November 12, 2012, by Reprise Records. Metacritic rated Koi No Yokan 86 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim" based on 18 reviews. In May 2013, it won Revolver's Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year.
On April 13, 2013, despite making a partial recovery and returning home, Cheng died in a hospital in his hometown of Stockton, California, after falling into cardiac arrest. It had been more than four years since his 2008 accident. Moreno announced in May that the album Eros, shelved in 2008 after Cheng's accident, was now more likely to be released following his death.
Deftones' legacy has been compared to alternative rock group Radiohead, with some dubbing Deftones "The Radiohead of metal". Music critic Johnny Loftus wrote, "Rock critics usually reserve a special place for Deftones above or at least away from the rest of the turn-of-the-century metal movement ... Deftones have always seemed more curious, more willing to incorporate traditionally revered sounds like D.C. hardcore and dream pop into their Northern California alt-metal". Peter Buckley, the author of The Rough Guide to Rock, called the band "one of the most primal, powerful, and experimental" bands in the alternative metal scene. A 2020 Billboard article noted the band's outlasting of multiple rock trends and sustained success, along with their dedicated fan community; Moreno also attributed their longevity to their diverse musical influences.
During the 2020s, a number of publiciations began to use the phrase "Deftonescore", in reference to the decade's wave of bands making music indebted to Deftones, including Glare, Thornhill and Bleed. This was particularly prominent amongst the Gen Z shoegaze resurgence. During this time, Eli Enis, former editor of Revolver, noted that during the decade, the term "nu-gaze" evolved from referring to the 2000s wave of shoegaze, to referring to a specific fusion of shoegaze and nu metal. He discussed this fusion as largely descending from Deftones, listing examples of this style as Narrow Head, Wisp, Loathe, Fleshwater, Trauma Ray, Trxy and Leaving Time.
The band have been cited as an influence by musicians including 7 Angels 7 Plagues, AFI, Architects, Bleed, Boston Manor, Carbomb, Chvrches, Circa Survive, Deafheaven, Devil Sold His Soul, Disembodied, Every Time I Die, Fightstar, Finch, Glassjaw, Higher Power, Holding Absence, In This Moment, Iwrestledabearonce, Karnivool, Korn, Linkin Park, Loathe, Misery Signals, Modern Color, My Ticket Home, Narrow Head, Norma Jean, Nothing, Paramore, Poison the Well, Senses Fail, Skycamefalling, Slipknot, Spiritbox, Static Dress, Suicide Silence, Thornhill, Thursday, the Used, Vein.fm, Wisp, Taproot, the Weeknd and Will Haven.
Source: wikipedia
Deftones' legacy has been compared to alternative rock group Radiohead, with some dubbing Deftones "The Radiohead of metal". Music critic Johnny Loftus wrote, "Rock critics usually reserve a special place for Deftones above or at least away from the rest of the turn-of-the-century metal movement ... Deftones have always seemed more curious, more willing to incorporate traditionally revered sounds like D.C. hardcore and dream pop into their Northern California alt-metal". Peter Buckley, the author of The Rough Guide to Rock, called the band "one of the most primal, powerful, and experimental" bands in the alternative metal scene. A 2020 Billboard article noted the band's outlasting of multiple rock trends and sustained success, along with their dedicated fan community; Moreno also attributed their longevity to their diverse musical influences.
During the 2020s, a number of publiciations began to use the phrase "Deftonescore", in reference to the decade's wave of bands making music indebted to Deftones, including Glare, Thornhill and Bleed. This was particularly prominent amongst the Gen Z shoegaze resurgence. During this time, Eli Enis, former editor of Revolver, noted that during the decade, the term "nu-gaze" evolved from referring to the 2000s wave of shoegaze, to referring to a specific fusion of shoegaze and nu metal. He discussed this fusion as largely descending from Deftones, listing examples of this style as Narrow Head, Wisp, Loathe, Fleshwater, Trauma Ray, Trxy and Leaving Time.
The band have been cited as an influence by musicians including 7 Angels 7 Plagues, AFI, Architects, Bleed, Boston Manor, Carbomb, Chvrches, Circa Survive, Deafheaven, Devil Sold His Soul, Disembodied, Every Time I Die, Fightstar, Finch, Glassjaw, Higher Power, Holding Absence, In This Moment, Iwrestledabearonce, Karnivool, Korn, Linkin Park, Loathe, Misery Signals, Modern Color, My Ticket Home, Narrow Head, Norma Jean, Nothing, Paramore, Poison the Well, Senses Fail, Skycamefalling, Slipknot, Spiritbox, Static Dress, Suicide Silence, Thornhill, Thursday, the Used, Vein.fm, Wisp, Taproot, the Weeknd and Will Haven.
Source: wikipedia