Consistency and a high bar are part and parcel with Deftones. It’s this assurance that drives ‘Ohms’ over the finish line to become a total triumph. To leave it in there was scary, but I’m happy with it.” Music’s always been more of an escape from what’s going on and all that we’re being bombarded with. To me, that just doesn’t match with music. “I just said it in that song and thought about changing it because we’ve never been a political band. “My response is that I don’t trust anybody.” “That’s a strong statement in these political times when everyone is barking at each other: ‘I’m right’, ‘No, I’m right’, ‘No, I’m right’, ‘No, I’m right’,” says Moreno. When there’s more chance of decent debate by screaming into a toilet than logging onto Twitter or Facebook, it’s a pretty relatable mantra. “ I’ve seen right through, now I watch how wild it gets – I finally achieve balance”. “ I reject both sides of what I’m being told,” he squawks. Straight off the bat on battlecry opening track ‘Genesis’, Moreno plants his flag firmly in the ground. “We’ve never just been a metal band, we’ve never just been an alternative band, we’ve always just been us” We feel comfortable in never having to choose.” “We’ve never just been a metal band, we’ve never just been an alternative band, we’ve always just been us. “That yin and yang of what we’ve always done makes us who we are,” says Moreno. It’s about knowing your place in a world of opposing forces. That push and pull and the space between is what this record is all about – Deftones’ dichotomy of beauty and brutality, with a current running between sounds, moods, genres, vitriol and vulnerability. Here comes the science bit: ohms are the unit of measurement for electrical resistance between two points. Plus, we imagine they probably felt a little more comfortable about the whole affair knowing that they had another masterpiece about to drop in ninth album ‘Ohms’. It’s less than a couple of months since we last spoke to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their game-changing third album ‘White Pony’ and though Deftones aren’t usually ones for looking back, a record as seismic as that demanded it. Hope, solidarity and taking stock are very much the order of the day as the singer calls us while he’s out on a long walk – a habit he’s developed for when he needs to talk through the big stuff and “get the endorphins going in his head”. The chorus is saying that we’re going to remain here together and nothing’s going to change that.” “It could be about an experience or a relationship, but honestly in my mind I was thinking about the environment and the Earth. “That’s not directly about one thing,” Moreno tells NME when quizzed about the lyrics. A resolve and optimism rises from the gloom as the chorus assures us, “ Time won’t change this promise we made – it’s how we’ll stay”. For Moreno at least, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a fittingly post-apocalyptic image for these dumpster fire times and our need to sever ties with broken ways of being if we’re going to get out of this alive. “We’re surrounded by debris of the past,” croons Deftones frontman Chino Moreno on the title track from the Sacramento art-metallers’ new opus ‘Ohms’. Performing it live for the first time last night, Moreno told the crowd before playing it: “This one’s for my man, Cheng.”Įlsewhere on the setlist, the band played a lot of fan favorites and performed ‘Romantic Dreams’ for the first time since their 2013 touring of ‘Koi No Yokan’.NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM In 2014, on the one-year anniversary of Cheng’s death, Moreno shared a studio version of ‘Smile’, the only track to ever be liberated from the album. He remained in a semi-comatose state for several years, and so the group decided to shelve the album and start fresh with fill-in bassist Sergio Vega, eventually returning with ‘Diamond Eyes’ in 2010.Ĭheng passed away in 2013 and ‘Eros’ has remained unreleased to this day.
‘Eros’ is the album that Deftones were recording at the time their late bassist Chi Cheng was involved in a car crash in 2008. Taking to the stage at San Diego’s Petco Park, the band added the rare ‘Eros’ track ‘Smile’ to their set list, giving the song its live debut. Read more: Soundtrack of My Life: Chino Moreno.The second annual Dia De Los Deftones festival took place last night (November 2) and Chino Moreno and the gang gave fans something special to remember.
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