REASON TO BELIEVE THE NEW DEFTONES ALBUM WILL BE AWESOME

Despite being the universally-heralded godfathers of the dreaded nu-metal movement, The Deftones have always been kind of left-of-center and have somehow manages to remain kind of cool. Throughout their now 15+ year career, the Deftones have evolved into some kind of quirky, alternative (in the true sense of the word) metal band that has somehow managed to straddle the line between art and commercial viability quite well.

That said, the band’s last two albums — 2003’s self-titled and 2006’s Saturday Night Wrist — have been solid but ultimately lacking in that intangible element that made the band’s earlier output special. The band has kind of drifted down an experimental path that they’ve dabbled in but not fully embraced, but these dabblings have hinted at something that I feel the band has yet to explore.

I’m not saying the Deftones have fizzled out and lost relevancy — in fact, I think the time is right for the band to embrace their experimental and artistic side and throw a giant curveball at their fans by releasing something completely different and groundbreaking. Think Kid A different, White Album different, Lateralus different — that extra revolutionary step that seals the deal of greatness. The band is currently back in the studio with long-time producer Terry Date, supposedly putting the finishing touches on their latest album Eros. Will the new album deliver? Supposedly we’ll find out by the end of 2008.

-VN