Throw in the 4 foot long dreadlocks of bassist Che Cheng, his amazingly rapid finger picking and Deftones still bring a whole lot of energy. There are many great drummers around these days, but few compare to the aggression and energy that Cunningham brings to a live show. When Cunningham hits his skins, you feel it in your soul, hitting his drums as if they stole his lunch money. Jumping out of his seat with every symbol smash, broken drum sticks covering his kit, and his massive mop of hair furiously banging about. Without a doubt the most entertaining drummer I’ve ever seen live. Behind the kit sits the monster: Abe Cunningham. Deftones continue to be a formidable touring and recording machine, and released Gore. Moreno’s vocals are always clear, concise and pitch-perfect while lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter brings the thunder with his heavy distorted strings. Other notable songs followed, including 'Minerva' (from 2003s self-titled album) and the title track of 2010s Diamond Eyes. I’ve seen them five times previously and still believe them to be one of the loudest live acts still touring. Regardless of the future album, Deftones will undoubtedly still continue to thrill and deafen crowds around the world. Countless hours in the studio during Saturday Night Wrist almost split the group up due to many constraints with producer Bob Ezrin, but with Terry Date back at the helm there should be no problems with production for Eros.

Gone is the massive production with layers and layers of effects, making a return to initial Deftones albums the boys recorded Eros material garage band style.

With a new album due out before 2008 ends, titled Eros, Deftones have been working tirelessly to return to their heavy metal roots. Many fans were quick to shoot it down without spending time listening to the softer sides of Chino Moreno and co. Although many fans were quick to dismiss their latest effort, Saturday Night Wrist, I felt it to be a great listen front to back. Thumbing through their impressive catalogue of albums, there is not one which stands out as better than the next. I am one of those who love these boys from Sacramento. I’ve never met a person who casually listens to this band. While you’re here, why not take advantage of our brilliant new subscribers’ offer? Get a digital pay monthly subscription for as little as £1.78 per month (opens in new tab) and enjoy the world’s best high voltage music journalism delivered direct to your device.Deftones: people either love em or hate em. But compared to other albums, the door certainly seems far from shut on the final material recorded by Chi and his friends in those halcyon days of creativity and reconciliation. With the band currently expected to release album number nine before the year’s end, it seems Deftones are too busy to tidy up Eros for the time being.

We know that there is interest in the album from the die-hards but I’m sure we will do the right thing at the right time with it… it’s something that could surface in the coming years.” “There is some really fucking bad-ass stuff on that album, but also stuff that’s not that good in my opinion. “If anything at all, I see some tracks from it coming out in some form or another,” Abe told Irish website Overdrive. However, in 2017 drummer Abe Cunningham seemed more optimistic that Chi’s final recordings could see the light of day. If the record were finished and we were just sitting on it, we probably would have put it out by now, maybe even given it away, just so that people can hear it, but it would take a lot more work to get it done.” Once Chi had his accident, everything came to a halt with the Eros sessions, so the idea of going back to that batch of songs, finishing them and have Sergio learn Chi’s parts just hasn’t felt like something that we’re interested in doing. I had faith it was going to come together and be great in the end, but we never got to that point.

Some of the music was lacking a little bit. “Musically it’s probably 75-80% done and lyrically it was about halfway there, but honestly, I wasn’t too happy with the material we had. In an interview with The Independent in 2016, Chino was still unresolved on the matter. Though it was taken down by the band’s label, it’s the only tantalising glimpse of an album that the band have been asked been questioned about ad nauseam in the years since, but are understandably apprehensive about revealing to the world. To mark the one-year anniversary of Chi’s passing, Chino uploaded a song, Smile, to YouTube.

Deftones albums youtube