Decisive · Garage Revival & Mass Alt
Deftones
Sacramento band formed in 1988. Nu-metal rhythm weight with shoegaze guitar wash; White Pony (2000) sits between metal festival bills and indie playlists.
Landmark
Change (In the House of Flies) · 2000
Whisper-to-crush dynamic as the main Deftones crossover single.
Opened
Alternative metal with shoegaze hush; not rap-rock writing.
01 / 06
Nu-metal weight plus shoegaze wash
Around the Fur (1997) kept Sacramento on Ozzfest bills. White Pony (2000) added Delgado’s samples and delay-heavy guitars—Change and Digital Bath crossed to alternative radio. Carpenter’s seven-string sludge and Moreno’s falsetto sit in one mix without pop polish.
02 / 06
Core four plus Delgado texture
Moreno, Carpenter, and Cunningham are constant since 1988. Chi Cheng held bass through White Pony; Sergio Vega filled after 2009. Delgado joined in 1999 on turntables/samples—fifth voice on White Pony. Peak citation is the White Pony five-piece before Cheng’s 2008 accident.
03 / 06
Atmosphere in 2000s alt-metal
My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth supply the wash; Soundgarden and Tool supply the riff weight. Linkin Park shared radio space with more hook-first writing; Deftones kept slow-build texture. Influence shows in bands that use delay guitars and clean/scream splits without full nu-metal cadence.
04 / 06
My Own Summer (Shove It)
Around the Fur; down-tuned riff and Moreno scream on metal radio.
05 / 06
Change (In the House of Flies)
White Pony crossover; delay-wash guitars and mid-tempo groove.
06 / 06
Digital Bath
Trip-hop tempo and layered vocal; atmosphere over riff speed.
01 / 06
Nu-metal weight plus shoegaze wash
Sacramento band formed in 1988. Nu-metal rhythm weight with shoegaze guitar wash; White Pony (2000) sits between metal festival bills and indie playlists.
Listen
Lineup versions
White Pony era
Peak1999–2008
Cheng bass era; Delgado textures fixed on White Pony.
- Chino MorenoVocals
- Stephen CarpenterGuitar
- Abe CunninghamDrums
- Chi ChengBass
- Frank DelgadoTurntables, Samples
Quotes
“We're not nu-metal. We just got filed next to it.”
— Chino Moreno, 2000 · Press interview excerpt
“The heavy parts and the pretty parts have to live in the same song.”
— Stephen Carpenter, 2003 · Guitar interview excerpt
Scenes
| Year | Track | On stage | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | My Own Summer (Shove It)Around the Fur; down-tuned riff and Moreno scream on metal radio. | Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, Chi Cheng | |
| 2000 | Change (In the House of Flies)White Pony crossover; delay-wash guitars and mid-tempo groove. | Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, Chi Cheng, Frank Delgado | |
| 2000 | Digital BathTrip-hop tempo and layered vocal; atmosphere over riff speed. | Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, Chi Cheng, Frank Delgado |