A Beginner's Guide To Deftones

One of the more underrated and under-appreciated bands of our time, Deftones made their humble beginnings while at high school in Sacramento, California when friends Chino Moreno (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Stephen Carpenter (lead guitar, keyboards) and Abe Cunningham (drums) started jamming in Cunningham's garage. With the addition of bassist Chi Cheng, the band started recording demos and playing gigs at local venues, eventually garnering a reputation that saw them open for nu metal architects Korn among other then-better known artists. This in turn allowed the band to sign a record deal with Maverick Records (a Warner Bros. subsidiary co-founded by Madonna), under whom they have released five studio albums until the label's folding in 2008. Since then the group have released another two albums through Warner Bros.

A band that detractors tend to make unfair assumptions about, Deftones have often found themselves associated with the '90s -'00s nu metal scene, much to their chagrin. The band's cult fanbase and music critics alike, however, hold the band closer to their hearts for their willingness to draw from musical wells as disparate as heavy metal, punk rock, hip hop and experimental music, as well as for Moreno's mature yet mysterious lyricism.

The band have survived the plague of mallcore, not to mention tensions caused by creative and personal differences and also the loss of Cheng (who was left in a semi-conscious state following a car crash in 2010, and passed away in 2013).

If you, like many others have heard Back To School (nobody hates the song more than they do themselves) and thought the band to be even worse than Limp Bizkit, follow this guide. You may well reconsider.

Start Here: 'Around The Fur' (1997)

With the addition of turntablist and keyboard player Frank Delgado, Deftones headed into the studio to record this, their sophomore album, with an unclear vision they wanted to produce.

With a new dimension added to their sound, however, the band spent more time in studio with producer Terry Date (famed for his earlier work with Pantera and Soundgarden) and gave more consideration to their production, resulting in a cleaner and more melodic product than previously heard on their debut album 'Adrenaline'.

While deeply rooted in the then burgeoning 'nu metal' scene, 'Around The Fur' helped to set Deftones apart from their peers thanks to their willingness to deviate from the norms of the genre.

Delgado eschewed the drum programming and disc scratching typical of the style in favour of adding ambience to the mix (MX), while Cunningham made an effort to alter the timbre of his snare drum from track to track, linking in with Cheng to forge a tight, driving rhythm section pinned under Carpenter's oft-abrasive riffs. All of that matched with Moreno's unique vocal approach, and the close attention paid to the track sequencing made 'Around The Fur' the band's breakthrough album, and a small taste of Deftones' ever-expanding palette.

Essential Listening: Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away), My Own Summer (Shove It), Headup. 

What's Next?: 'White Pony' (2000)

If there was any doubt that Deftones weren't just another run-of-the-mill nu metal band after the release of 'Around The Fur', follow-up album 'White Pony' well and truly removed every remaining trace of generic complacency.

Spending four months in the studio, the band drew inspiration from artists as eclectic as new wave, dream pop, trip hop and shoegaze to produce an album that showcased the group's natural maturity. Under pressure from Maverick to release the album and met with disdain at the softening of their sound, Deftones' refusal to compromise brought them their greatest critical and commercial success to date, earning them a Grammy for their performance on Elite and achieving multi-platinum status.

Diverse yet cohesive, 'White Pony' matches unconventional song structure, heavy guitar trade-offs, glitchy trip-hop beats, and stuttering basslines over which Chino Moreno croons fantastic, oblique and sometimes eerily violent lyrics. The lone criticism a fan may have of this album is that to this date, it has often - and sometimes unfairly - overshadowed much of the band's later output.

Essential Listening: Change (In The House Of Flies), Digital Bath, Passenger.

Now Try...: Koi No Yokan (2012)

Seventh album (and second to feature new permanent bassist Sergio Vega) Koi No Yokan was met with immediate critical acclaim, heralded for Deftones' success in mastering the soft-loud dynamic to the extent that here they manage to be both at once.  The band devoted more attention to the rhythmic aspects of their sound on 'Koi No Yokan', recording the album in parts but maintaining the organic, live feel to their constantly growing sound.

Featuring monolithic guitar riffs, 'Koi No Yokan' sees Deftones switching from straightforward and brutal (Gauze, Swerve City), to grandiose and progressive (Tempest), to ethereal and spacious; making for a varied yet freeflowing, beautiful listening experience.  Arguably the band's best effort since 2000's 'White Pony', 'Koi No Yokan' opened yet another door for sonic experimentation for Deftones, making the possibilities for their return to the studio this year endless.

Essential Listening: Swerve City, Leathers, Tempest, Rosemary.

If You're Really Interested: Deftones (2003), Saturday Night Wrist (2006), Diamond Eyes (2010)

Constantly unfavourably compared with the band's magnum opus 'White Pony'; the band's mid-career work, although overlooked, is worthwhile in each album's own right.

Uglier, heavier and much more dissonant was the band's immediate follow-up to 'White Pony'; their fourth, self-titled album. Though in the eyes of many fans and critics 'Deftones' failed to live up to the expectations set by its predecessor, the album does strike an interesting mid-point between Slayer and My Bloody Valentine, incorporating instrumentation that was atypical of the band's style, including grand and toy piano (Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event) as well as excessively low guitar tunings and manic screams courtesy of Moreno.

While holding on to the heaviness of the self-titled album, 'Saturday Night Wrist' saw the band take a new, more modern approach to recording resulting in a more lush, layered sound than ever before. Here, the band explore the more beautiful aspects of their sound, allowing Moreno's chilling vocals to soar over the mix. The band's influences outside of heavy metal were never more evident than on this album, justifying both the band's legacy as the "Radiohead of alternative metal" and why they, unlike much of their contemporaries, have managed to stay relevant and are still adored by many within the music world.

While some fans were disheartened by the band's move into more melodic territory on 'Saturday Night Wrist', 'Diamond Eyes' proved to be a more straightforward, heavier, guitar-based effort. Despite the band's more simplistic approach on this album, it carries much more delicacy and a stronger sense of skill than that heard on their self-titled album. There is a strong case to be made that had this album followed 'White Pony', perhaps the band's following would have surpassed that of cult status.

Essential Listening: When Girls Telephone Boys ('Deftones'), Hole In The Earth ('Saturday Night Wrist'), Rocket Skates ('Diamond Eyes').

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... some of Chino Moreno's side-project work. A man of eclectic tastes, Moreno has released a self-titled album with Team Sleep (2005); a genre-defying group made up of several musicians from Moreno's hometown of Sacramento who are reportedly due to record again soon. Their sole release to date is one of great experimentation and eclecticism, with sounds varying from post-rock to trip hop and dream pop/shoegaze.

Moreno has also lent his vocals to dark electronic outfit Crosses, who to this date have released a trilogy of EPs and one self-titled album to varying degrees of critical and commercial success in their own right; and also to Palms; a post-metal band made up of Moreno and three members of the now defunct Isis. The band released their debut, self-titled album in 2013 to generally warm reviews.

Steer Clear: Adrenaline (1995), Back To School (Mini Maggit) EP (2001)

Though not a terrible album, what's most obvious about Deftones from listening to debut album 'Adrenaline' is the band's youth. The album sounds rushed and half-hearted at times, with little thought given to its production or the quality of the songs included. Moreno had yet to find his voice at this early stage in the group's career. But if anything holds the album up, it's Cunningham's very tasteful drumming.

More offensive is the band's 2001 EP, 'Back To School (Mini Maggit)', named for it's titular track. Having refused to bow to pressure from their record label during the recording of 'White Pony', the band were chastised by A&R reps for having 'gone soft' and for the album lacking a potential hit single. The result? A generic rap/metal re-working of the album's closing track Pink Maggit to be included on a re-release of the album, and also saw a single release and was included on this EP as a marketing strategy in a move that the band has expressed nothing but regret for since. The rest of the EP is made up of low quality live recordings of previously released songs.

Essential Listening: Engine No. 9 (Adrenaline')