It’s hard to say that ‘Deftones have returned’ while vocalist Chino Moreno never really goes away. His recent side projects have ranged from the sublime (Palms) to the ridiculous (Crosses. I don’t even know what ‘witch house’ is). Even Team Sleep made an all-too-brief return. As fascinating as Chino is, it’s Deftones that brings a certain strand of rock fan to the yard and they are indeed ‘back’.
The band’s eight studio album is called “Gore” and will be released on April 4th. In a Kanye-like flourish of grandiose hype, Chino has said of the album, “Out of respect for Pac, Big, Stevie, Michael, Hendrix, Gore is ONE of the greatest albums not the greatest, just one of.” The lead track from the collection is “Prayers/Triangles”, which was debuted on Zane Low’s Apple radio show. “Prayers/Triangles” is the latest stage in the bad’s evolution from reluctant n*/****l heavyweights to purveyors of atmospheric heavy rock. This is the direction they’ve been headed in since the excellent “Diamond Eyes”. The Deftones ‘sound’ now is closer to Palms than it is to “Around The Fur”. The core elements that attracted a devoted fanbase to what was once called ‘the world’s biggest cult band’ are still evident. It was the drama, heightened emotion and Chino Moreno’s demented firefly of a vocal that set Deftones apart from other hoodie-flogging outfits in the late 90’s. And they’re here in “Prayers/Triangles”, which moves from spacious Cure-like guitars to a sunkissed sky dive of a chorus beautifully. Of course, the lead single of a Deftones album is never really a clue what to expect (‘Minerva’, I’m looking at you). More like this will be most welcome though.
“Gore” is out April 8th via Warner Bros. The album is available for pre-order at the official site. There’s a limited edition vinyl run available, limited to 3500 copies, which I am personally excited about as it’s rumoured I’ll be getting it for my birthday. Check Instagram round about mid-April for filtered vinyl pics/sulking and crying if I get a shower gel set instead.
Tracklisting:
- Prayers/Triangles
- Acid Hologram
- Doomed User
- Geometric Headdress
- Hearts and Wires
- Pittura Infamante
- Xenon
- (L)MIRL
- Gore
- Phantom Bride
- Rubicon
Deftones upcoming shows:
03/05 Costa Mesa, CA Musink Festival
03/16 Mission, TX Never Say Never Festival
03/19 San Antonio, TX Lonestar Events Center
03/20 Dallas, TX South Side Ballroom
03/22 Houston, TX Revention Music Center
03/24 Lubbock, TX Lonestar Pavilion
05/08 Kannapolis, NC Carolina Rebellion
05/15 Atlanta, GA Shaky Knees Festival
06/03 London, UK The SSE Arena Wembley
06/04 Mendig, Germany Rock AM Ring
06/05 Nürnberg, Germany Rock IM Park
06/10 Paris, France Download Festival
06/11 Derby, UK Download Festival
06/12 Nickelsdorf, Austria Novarock Festival
06/14 Cologne, Germany Palladium
06/15 Berlin, Germany Columbiahalle
06/17 Aarhus, Denmark NorthSide Festival
06/18 Reykjavik, Iceland Secret Solstice