DEFTONES DIAMOND EYES (Reprise, 2010)
Often dubbed the Radiohead of metal, Deftones have always flirted with the more experimental side of things. Raised on a steady diet of art-rock, shoegaze, and hip-hop, they’ve exhibited, via shifting time signatures, unorthodox song structures and a fascination of the obscure, a derring-do far beyond their alt metal peers.
Their sixth LP was crafted in strange times. A record with the tentative title of Eros was meant to succeed Saturday Night Wrist, written while Chino Moreno battled drug addiction and divorce. They’d even entered the studio with producer Terry Date (Dream Theater, Soundgarden) in 2008, but when bassist Chi Cheng fell into a coma following a car accident, the band shelved the record. Cheng passed in 2013, and Eros never saw the light of day.