Deftones had quite an eventful weekend to say the least. There’s good news and awful news that came out of it. First and foremost, it’s safe to assume that you’ve all heard of the Paris attacks and other events that transpired over the weekend. The music community took a large hit as The Eagles of Death Metal show at Le Bataclan in Paris was put into a hostage situation at the hands of Islamic extremists. Many people died there… Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Paris as well as Beirut, Japan, and everywhere that was affected by unspeakable events this weekend.
Other than being important world news, the reason why Le Bataclan is relevant to Deftones is that they were scheduled to play there the next day and had members in attendance the night of the terrorist attacks. Thankfully, they left shortly before the violence broke out. Here’s what vocalist Chino Moreno had to say in regards to this:
“We weren’t scheduled to play at the Bataclan until tomorrow night. A couple of [Deftones] band members, they went to the [Eagles of Death Metal] concert, but they left early — after the first few songs, they ended up leaving the venue. They got out of there and all of our band and crew are safe and accounted for at the hotel now. So, we are just here, we’re pretty much on lockdown. They told everybody pretty much to stay indoors and don’t go out, because they’re still… Everything is still unfolding as we speak.”
Consequently, the band has canceled the remained of their European tour. The following statement was just released in regards to this cancellation:
“Much has been said, as well as seen, on every media outlet about the events in Paris. Some of us were in attendance at the Le Bataclan, and the rest of our family, just blocks away on this night. We have been to Paris many, many times, and we’ve had some of the most amazing shows in this tremendously electric city.
“With this being said, and with our deepest condolences, love and respect to everyone affected, and to all of us who share this planet, we must return home to our loved ones. We will return when appropriate.
“For ticket holders, we will have more information soon, so please hang tight. Until then, please never forget the power of gathering, and one of the most unbelievable feelings of all: that P.M.A.
“With much love and respect.”
Aside from the heaviness of this news, Deftones did announce something awesome shortly before all of this transpired. Their new album is, more or less, completely finished! We knew the recording process was done for some time now but just about everything else is now complete as well. They approved the final mixes which will be sent for mastering. Other than that, just the artwork and titles remain. Yet again, Chino Moreno made statements on this while speaking with the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show:
“Well yesterday [November 7] we actually finished the last mix, or at least approved the last mix, so now it’s just time to sequence the songs and master them and we should be done. So aside from artwork still is something that we’re working on, but we’re making progress with that. Album title close, but not all the way there yet, and song titles as well. But that’s usually the stuff that’s the sort of the last stuff to come together. But as far as the music, it’s done, it’s sounding good and we’re excited about it.”
“I can’t really compare it to our last couple records. I mean those two records were done in a very similar manner where we locked ourselves in a room for a short period of time and wrote and recorded it. Therefore I feel like we sort of really captured this moment in time and the record sort of sounds cohesive because of that.
“This record was done sort of over a year, spread out over these little tiny writing sections. So it sounds a bit more fragmented, but in a good way. I feel like you put on one song and it’s completely different from the song after it, or previous to it. It’s not like we had this one main idea and we went in and we sort of went with that vibe, I mean the vibe’s sort of all over the place.
“Like any Deftones record, I mean it’s got dynamics and there’s loud aggressiveness and there’s mellowness to it, but it’s all sort of got an ebb and flow to it. I don’t know, it’d be hard for me to put it in words exactly what it sounds like. It’s definitely a Deftones record. The way I look at it is, it’s a gradual step from where we last were.”
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