Deftones are back in a major way, as the nu-metal legends released their 10th studio album, “Private Music,” on Friday, August 22. The band has evolved a lot form their early days, when they debuted with “Adrenaline” in 1995 and took the nu-metal world by storm.
Deftones have remained consistent over the years, and they’ve largely kept a similar lineup. However, it’s impossible to forget that the band’s original bass player Chi Cheng and his sister were involved in a car accident in Santa Clara, California, back in 2008, which left Cheng in a coma. He passed away in 2013.
At the time, Deftones were working on a new album, “Eros,” and it got shelved. They were juts about to go into the studio with producer Terry Date when the accident happened. So, will Deftones ever release “Eros” in any form?
Chino Moreno of Deftones Talks ‘Eros’
Speaking with The Guardian in an interview published on Thursday, August 21, Moreno was asked about “Eros.” When questioned on if the set will ever come out, fans may not like his answer.
“We’re always asked about Eros,” Moreno said. “It will most likely never see the light of day. That would involve going back to that period and resurrecting unfinished things, and somehow bringing them to completion. ‘Dallas’ is the only [other] song that was anywhere near finished.”
Moreno went on to related “Eros” to the band’s newest release, “Private Music,” explaining, “This new album started with ideas we’d been working on alone, through the pandemic. And when we got together to actually start making the record, none of us wanted to look back at those ideas from the pandemic — we wanted to capture the moment we’re in today. So going back to try to capture what was happening back during Eros, and finishing those ideas, doesn’t really make sense.”
So, sadly, those “Eros” songs will likely never be release. But, never say never, and it’s possible Moreno may have a change of heart at some point.
Glowing Reviews for ‘Private Music’
“Private Music” is getting rave reviews. In Pitchfork’s review of the set, they state, “A nu-metal band writing about darkness as a source of triumph is no more unique than—or all that different from—a shoegaze band locating the signal of angelic harmony in the midst of abyssal noise. Still, something unique happens when all of these sources of heaviness—musical and emotional—are plugged in and allowed to feed back into one another.”
They add, “What is it? Deftones have been trying to solve this riddle for thirty years, since the very first song on their very first album. They’ve never sounded more at ease with not knowing the answer.”
Louder Sound adds, “While Gore contained subtle melodic deviations into alt rock, space rock and more, and 2020’s ‘Ohms’ was an enjoyable attempt at recreating every period of their career in one release, ‘Private Music’ feels like the most complete and essential album they’ve made in a very long time. The perfect record for a late-period career renaissance.”
As for our take, it’s true that Deftones have really succeeded in keeping their original themes an aura alive, even being decades older at this point. They’re keeping the nu metal genre alive and well, and in 2025, that’s a beautiful thing.
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