{"id":99944,"date":"2025-08-21T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=99944"},"modified":"2025-08-20T21:20:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T20:20:34","slug":"review-deftones-private-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Deftones &#8211; private music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It feels like <strong>Deftones<\/strong> are going through a popularity renaissance. The arrival of<em> \u2018private music\u2019<\/em> comes off the back of their biggest UK show to date at Crystal Palace Park earlier this summer. Add that to the fact that there\u2019s been a whole host of bands doing their best impersonation of the Sacramento group in recent years. <strong>Deftones<\/strong>\u2019 stock has never been higher.<\/p>\n<p>Their tenth album sees them reconnecting with<em> \u2018Diamond Eyes\u2019<\/em> and <em>\u2018Koi No Yokan&#8217;<\/em> producer Nick Raskulinecz. As albums held in high regard in the post-<em>&#8216;White Pony&#8217;<\/em><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">\u00a0period of\u00a0<strong>Deftones<\/strong>, they helped enhance the quintet&#8217;s reputation as one<\/span> of rock and metal&#8217;s most reliable bands. With the surging popularity factor and Raskulinecz on board, <em>&#8216;private music&#8217;<\/em> makes for an exciting proposition.<\/p>\n<p>On the face of it, it meets the relatively high expectations that we&#8217;ve come to expect from <strong>Deftones<\/strong>.\u00a0<em>&#8216;my mind is a mountain&#8217;<\/em> is an instant reminder of their crushing heaviness, with Chino Moreno\u2019s melodic aura clashing with Stephen Carpenter&#8217;s razor-sharp riffs. It segues into <em>&#8216;locked club,&#8217;<\/em> where Moreno&#8217;s distorted crooning glides over touring member Fred Sablan&#8217;s bubbling bass lines. Sablan&#8217;s grooves are paired up with\u00a0Frank Delgado\u2019s pulsing synths on\u00a0<em>&#8216;Ecdysis&#8217;<\/em>. Treading on goth\/industrial ground, it radiantly bursts through Moreno&#8217;s soaring voice.<\/p>\n<p>Moreno\u2019s melodic aura remains the album\u2019s anchor, whether against the distorted chaos of<em> \u2018cXz\u2019<\/em> or the dream-pop lift of <em>\u2018Infinite Source&#8217;<\/em>.\u00a0When they push beyond expectations, they&#8217;re simply superb. Sandwiched in between is <em>&#8216;Souvenir&#8217;<\/em>. One of the album&#8217;s more tender moments, Moreno provides a meditation on love, time, and memory. It&#8217;s a contract to\u00a0<em>&#8216;cXz&#8217;<\/em>s distorted imagery of parallel realities.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"milk of the madonna\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B_MxsM80LqM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As always,\u00a0<strong>Deftones<\/strong> are able to look back and forward in equal measure. Moments such as the evocative\u00a0<em>&#8216;i think about you all the time&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>thrive on luscious melodies and a tender build. While <em>&#8216;Milk of the Madonna&#8217;<\/em> pulsates with familiarity, as its simple, yet effective, hook of <em>&#8220;I\u2019m on fire&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>bounces off walls of distortion and Abe Cunningham&#8217;s penetrating drums. Moreno&#8217;s snappy delivery on <em>&#8216;cut hands&#8217;<\/em> is reminiscent of <em>&#8216;Around the Fur&#8217;<\/em>-era\u00a0<strong>Deftones<\/strong>, yet is far from the sound of a band aiming to recreate past glories. Its jagged riff grinds away and complements the experimental groove of\u00a0<em>&#8216;metal dream&#8217;<\/em>.\u00a0By the time you reach\u00a0<em>&#8216;Departing the Body&#8217;s <\/em>opening glitching synths and Moreno&#8217;s hushed opening lines, you&#8217;re left compelled by its astronomical sonic assault. It&#8217;s gorgeous yet maintains the heavy anchor that threads\u00a0<em>&#8216;private music&#8217;<\/em> together.<\/p>\n<p>Across its 11 tracks, the album ebbs and flows between feral intensity and spacious tenderness, ultimately closing on a transcendent note with <em>\u2018Departing the Body.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Much like their finest work,<em> &#8216;private music&#8217;<\/em> doesn\u2019t rely on obvious standout tracks. Instead, its strength lies in cohesion. Each moment bleeds into the next, carrying you from storm to stillness, from intimacy to transcendence. It\u2019s a <strong>Deftones<\/strong> record through and through: consistent, immersive, and untouchable in the way it balances ferocity and beauty. In a time when countless bands chase their shadow, <strong>Deftones<\/strong> remain in a league of their own.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;private music&#8217;<\/em> by\u00a0<strong>Deftones<\/strong> is released on August 22nd on\u00a0<strong>Reprise\/Warner Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Find\u00a0<strong>Deftones<\/strong> on: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/deftones\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/deftones\">X (Formerly Twitter)<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/deftones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@deftones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TikTok<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/6Ghvu1VvMGScGpOUJBAHNH?si=PA5Df5r_T06t8TECmO85Ow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/us\/artist\/deftones\/1092903\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deftones.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite a wave of imitators, the Sacramento band\u2019s 10th album proves no one balances beauty and brutality quite like Deftones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1813],"class_list":["post-99944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-deftones"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Deftones - private music - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite a wave of imitators, the Sacramento band\u2019s 10th album proves no one balances beauty and brutality quite like Deftones.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Deftones - private music - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite a wave of imitators, the Sacramento band\u2019s 10th album proves no one balances beauty and brutality quite like Deftones.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/seanreidportfolio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-21T08:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Deftones-private-music.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"S\u00eaan Reid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"S\u00eaan Reid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Deftones - private music - Already Heard Staging","description":"Despite a wave of imitators, the Sacramento band\u2019s 10th album proves no one balances beauty and brutality quite like Deftones.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Deftones - private music - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"Despite a wave of imitators, the Sacramento band\u2019s 10th album proves no one balances beauty and brutality quite like Deftones.","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/seanreidportfolio","article_published_time":"2025-08-21T08:00:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1750,"height":1750,"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Deftones-private-music.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"S\u00eaan Reid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"S\u00eaan Reid","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/"},"author":{"name":"S\u00eaan Reid","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/484dc00e54dea89663d06cb624a70cd9"},"headline":"Review: Deftones &#8211; private music","datePublished":"2025-08-21T08:00:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/"},"wordCount":564,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Deftones-private-music.webp","keywords":["Deftones"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/","name":"Review: Deftones - private music - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Deftones-private-music.webp","datePublished":"2025-08-21T08:00:32+00:00","description":"Despite a wave of imitators, the Sacramento band\u2019s 10th album proves no one balances beauty and brutality quite like Deftones.","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-deftones-private-music\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Deftones-private-music.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Deftones-private-music.webp","width":1750,"height":1750},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/484dc00e54dea89663d06cb624a70cd9","name":"S\u00eaan Reid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef81976bb8e011af71a662b656189e99562e2fa47bb3928dfb824b97e133334e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef81976bb8e011af71a662b656189e99562e2fa47bb3928dfb824b97e133334e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ef81976bb8e011af71a662b656189e99562e2fa47bb3928dfb824b97e133334e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"S\u00eaan Reid"},"description":"Based in Nottinghamshire, S\u00eaan Reid is the Founder and Senior Editor of Already Heard. Since 2008, he has been writing about a variety of bands from around the world for numerous publications. Away from music, S\u00eaan has several interests, most notably watching wrestling and football. You can find S\u00eaan on the following: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram","sameAs":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/seanreidportfolio","seanreid86"],"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/sean\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99944"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99948,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99944\/revisions\/99948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}