photo: Frank Maddocks
The Deftones’ Diamond Eyes was one of the biggest surprises of 2010, not just because it was an amazing album, but because it was created in the shadow of tragedy, written and recorded without founding bassist Chi Cheng, who was in a coma from a car accident. Now the quartet, who continued on with bassist Sergio Vega, are set to release their second album since the accident. The album, which is still untitled, will be the band’s seventh. Like the last album, producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Shadows Fall) is helming the boards.
“Obviously we’re an aggressive band — not the heaviest, but there’s a lot of attack,” Moreno told Entertainment Weekly. “But there’s also this lush beauty that flows within everything that we do, and that’s my favorite part of the band. To me, it’s the epitome of what the Deftones do.” The band have finished writing and recording the album, and plan on spending the next two weeks mixing it. They’ll be on the road in August for a short East Coast tour with System of a Down.
And as usual, Deftones are recording some covers to use as b-sides. This time, they’re going back farther than their ’80s roots and taking on songs by Elvis Presley and Earth, Wind and Fire. “We’ve done a lot of ’80s stuff, but we wanted to do something from farther back,” Moreno told the magazine. “We sat down and everybody had their computers on and were playing songs that we like. So we’re going to do an Elvis Presley song — we have five Elvis songs that we’ve been talking about. And we’re going to do Earth, Wind, and Fire. Hopefully we’ll get at least two, maybe three or four.”
