Ten studio albums is a special milestone for any band and Deftones mark it in style with ‘Private Music’, with some of their best work emerging almost 30 years on from the arrival of their debut ‘Adrenaline’.
If the alt-metal legends are looking back at any one time in their long career, though, it’s in the direction of 2008’s ‘Diamond Eyes’, seen by many fans as a high watermark after their masterpiece ‘White Pony’.
That’s not to say that ‘Private Music’ is a simple copy job. Instead, it suggests the band are capable of reflecting on what works for them at this stage of their career. And, right now, that happens to be massive seven-string riffs and entrancing choruses.
My Mind Is A Mountain kicks in like a series of bomb blasts, showing quickly that they’ve lost none of their bite while Chino Moreno’s vocals are still as unique and compelling as ever.
What Deftones continue to do as well as any band operating in heavy music is allowing songs to breathe. As full on as the instrumentation can be, they have also mastered restraint and it gives their music heaps of atmosphere. That carries over into Locked Club, where Moreno seems to take on the role of a cult leader delivering a deftly enunciated sermon. “Join our parade, or be left out,” he urges.
Ecdysis leads with industrial electronics that suggests a dose of Nine Inch Nails’ influence, before Infinite Source, Souvenir and cXz swerve into territory previously marked out on ‘Koi No Yokan’ and ‘Saturday Night Wrist’. The closing duo of ~Metal Dream and Departing The Body ensures ‘Private Music' maintains its high standards to the very end.
Although many of these tracks could quite comfortably sit on other Deftones records, there are intricate details revealed by repeated listens that show how they are continuing to innovate and experiment. There’s their expanded use of electronics, Chino’s low-register spoken word performances and Stephen Carpenter’s bruising guitar lines coming enriched with unexpected grooves. Taken together, it creates a product with no respite, no lull. Deftones have still got it.
Deftones Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu February 12 2026 - BIRMINGHAM BP Pulse Live
Fri February 13 2026 - GLASGOW OVO Hydro
Sat February 14 2026 - MANCHESTER Co Op Live
Mon February 16 2026 - DUBLIN 3Arena
Wed February 18 2026 - CARDIFF Utilita Arena Cardiff
Fri February 20 2026 - LONDON O2 Arena
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