Artist

Deftones

United States • Formed 1988

Deftones is a music group from United States, active since 1988. Their discography on Gatefold includes 23 records.

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Albums tracked

709

In collections

1988

Since

Biography

Deftones is an American metal band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1988, consisting of Chino Moreno (lead vocals and guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Frank Delgado (keyboards and turntables), and Abe Cunningham (drums and percussion). Vega (formerly of Quicksand) took on bass duties from mid-2009 to ca. 2021 in substitution for Chi Cheng, who was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Santa Clara, California on November 4, 2008.

The Arc of Deftones

The pivots — what forced Deftones to reinvent.

The Sacramento Scrap
Between 1995 and 1997, the band established their core dynamic with Terry Date behind the board. Around the Fur captured them at their most volatile, recorded quickly at Studio Litho in Seattle with a snare drum crack that still haunts drum forums. Abe Cunningham's heavy, hip-hop-influenced pocket gave Carpenter's brutal down-tuned riffs room to breathe, while Chino's lyrics moved away from teenage angst into dream-pop imagery. It was a physical, sweaty record that proved they weren't just another rap-metal outfit.
The Lathrop Studio Shift
By 2000, Frank Delgado officially joined the lineup on turntables and synthesizers, moving them away from the metal ghetto entirely. White Pony was written during marathon writing sessions in Sausalito where the band consciously banned standard heavy metal tropes. They brought in Maynard James Keenan for a guest spot on 'Passenger' and let Chino play guitar, which pissed off Carpenter but created the push-pull dynamic that defined their career. The result was a masterpiece of shoegaze weight and trip-hop tension that saved them from the nu-metal extinction event.
The Bob Ezrin Meltdown
The mid-2000s were a disaster of addiction, label pressure, and internal warfare that culminated in Saturday Night Wrist. Producer Bob Ezrin, famous for working with Pink Floyd, tried to force a traditional discipline on a band that functioned best on chaotic instinct. Chino's vocals were tracked in a separate studio, and the resulting record was a fragmented, synth-heavy mess that nearly tore the band apart. You can hear the exhaustion in the grooves, a document of a band running on fumes and mutual resentment.
The Healing of Diamond Eyes
After Chi Cheng's devastating accident in 2008, the band shelved the finished 'Eros' album and started from scratch with Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega stepping in. They hired Nick Raskulinecz to produce, tracking Diamond Eyes in a fast, collaborative burst that salvaged their career. This era replaced the dark, toxic fog of the mid-2000s with a bright, massive, nine-string guitar crunch and some of Chino's most triumphant vocal hooks. It proved they could survive their own history.

Influences

Bad Brains — The band has repeatedly cited these D.C. hardcore legends as the blueprint for mixing extreme punk aggression with dub reggae. You hear this influence directly in Chino's vocal delivery on 'Engine No. 9,' which mimics HR's rapid-fire throat-shredding, and in the band's official cover of 'Right Brigade.'
Cocteau Twins — Chino Moreno has consistently name-dropped Elizabeth Fraser as one of his primary vocal influences. The shimmering, reverb-soaked guitars on 'Sextape' and 'Cherry Waves' are a direct nod to Robin Guthrie's atmospheric production style. They took the heavy-gaze concept and gave it a metallic weight.
The Cure — Deftones covered 'If Only Tonight We Could Sleep' at the MTV Icon special for Robert Smith, showcasing their deep post-punk roots. The melancholic, delay-heavy basslines played by Chi Cheng and Sergio Vega throughout their catalog are pulled straight from Simon Gallup's playbook. It's the secret weapon behind their melodic sensibility.
Helmet — Stephen Carpenter's use of drop-tunings and syncopated, mechanical staccato riffs is heavily indebted to Page Hamilton's work on 'Meantime.' The rhythmic crunch on tracks like 'My Own Summer (Shove It)' mimics the precise, urban noise-rock assault that Helmet pioneered in the early nineties. It's the skeleton of their heaviest moments.
Duran Duran — The band famously recorded a cover of 'Chauffeur' for their B-Sides & Rarities release, revealing their obsession with eighties new wave. Frank Delgado's synth textures and drum machine programming often lean into these dark-pop rhythms rather than standard metal electronics. It gives their heaviest tracks a sleek, danceable undercurrent.