Deftones

Nu Metal

Deftones is an American alternative 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. Cheng remained in a coma until his death on April 13, 2013 due to cardiac arrest. Fred Sablan is their current live bassist starting in 2022. Lance Jackman plays guitar during non-US shows since Stephen Carpenter no longer travels abroad as of 2022. While they were mostly an alternative metal band in their early years, their sound changed into something more complex and experimental in 2000, as a result they are often coined today as an alternative rock band. Critics have often praised them as one of the closest to unique rock bands of recent years for their innovative, atmospheric music; as Johnny Loftus writes, Rock critics usually reserve a special place for Deftones above or at least away from the rest of the turn-of-the-century metal movement [...] Deftones have always seemed more curious, more willing to incorporate traditionally revered sounds like dream pop and DC hardcore into their Northern California alt-metal. Frontman Chino Moreno’s poetic lyrics—described by a Time magazine critic as “fiercely int...