Deftones Name New Album ‘Diamond Eyes,’ Set May Release Date

The Deftones have set a May 18 release date for their long-awaited sixth record, the band's first since bassist Chi Cheng's life-altering car accident, which has left him in a comatose state. The disc will be called 'Diamond Eyes,' and was written and recorded in the wake of Chi's crash; an album they'd been working on with Cheng, called 'Eros,' has been shelved indefinitely.

On Feb. 23, The Deftones will make one of the disc's tracks, 'Rocket Skates,' available as a free download. The band's site also features a new clip that previews the entire disc for fans with brief song snippets.

During a recent interview with Noise creep's 'Creep Show' gang, frontman Chino Moreno explained that, after Chi's accident, the band nearly called it quits, but later, decided to work on an entirely new batch of songs with their friend Sergio Vega filling in on bass. They hired producer Nick Raskulinecz to work with them, and in just two months, they'd recorded an entirely new album. "I honestly think it's one of the best, if not the best records we've ever done," Moreno said. "My favorite record is 'Around the Fur.' It was written and recorded in four months, which was the fastest, easiest and funnest record we've ever made. This record totally has that feel to it."

Lyrically, Moreno says that the album talks less about his life experiences. "I don't like listening to people's problems -- I like music. Music has been smothered with that complaining since the early '90s. It gets old. Instead of going to the opposite side of the spectrum and listening to Black Eyed Peas, which is just straight silly, I choose to listen to more instrumental music. I do very little singing about myself on this record. I love songs where I can totally take myself out of being human. I can sing about really odd things, and they don't necessarily have to pertain to me at all."