Artist Bio
“Pretty,” affirms Deftones singer and guitarist Chino Moreno when discussing their new full-length studio album, Diamond Eyes. “We’re not afraid to be pretty.” It’s an adjective most riff-heavy groups might avoid, but then, Deftones have never been your average hard rock band. As kids, the Sacramento fivesome cut its teeth on Anthrax and The Smiths, Pantera and The Cure, skateboarding and “The Smurfs.” As a band out of high school, Deftones mixed trip hop with thrash, melodic vocals with crushing reverb, and yes, pretty with ugly. As chart-toppers and headliners, they’ve crossed over genres, defied categorization and confused the hell out of your iPod (“Heavy Metal?” “Hard Rock?” “Alternative?”) Above all, Deftones have stuck together throughout their often-turbulent tenure, and now, deliver one of the most compelling records of their career.
The 11-track album is just that—an album from start to finish. Diamond Eyes works the way good records used to; each song carries you a little further away from your shitty day until finally, you’ve been transported to a place that feels a whole lot better than where you started. “There are so many emotions that music can give you, and if you explore all sides of those, it can be really amazing,” says Moreno. “Like sadness -- it can be really lovely, or beautiful, or wide open, or coarse. We connect with different emotions because we listen to everything out there—that could mean dumb music or something by Brian Eno. Then when we play, it’s not a real conscious thing, but the emotion builds and it takes us in a lot of different ways. I think that’s what music’s supposed to do.”
There’s a newfound sense of purpose that makes Deftones' sixth album stand out. The band recorded the album after their best friend and bassist Chi Cheng sustained a debilitating brain injury from a car accident in November of 2008. “After Chi’s accident, it would have been easy for us to make a sad record,” says Moreno. “It felt like there was a cloud around us, so we aimed to make something uplifting. I think that’s why there’s a lot of fantasy stuff on the record. I tried to take it away from day to day life, and make it more about the abstract, about art. It sounds odd, but really, this is an optimistic record.” And a spontaneous one.
Critics, marketers and radio alike have struggled with just where to place or how to define Deftones. “We’re not a party band, but we’re not a dark rock band,” says Moreno. “We’re not the most wildly artistic band, but we’re not light and fluffy. It’s hard to put us in one place. I don’t blame people when they try to do it, because I can’t even pin it myself. But really, does it matter?” Not when you’re as compelling, diverse, powerful and pretty as Deftones.
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