Moreno’s drug addictions and crumbling marriage inspired many of the songs, the recording and production lasted nearly two years which strained inter-band relationships, and it is also the last record to feature Cheng before his accident. It’s an incredibly consequential album given the context. However, it had to be included in this spot, as it’s only fair, but there are only minutiae that separate it and the following entries. I remember being bought it for my 10th birthday, which I imagine was from the local Woolworths. Personally, Saturday Night Wrist is my favourite Deftones record. ‘You’ve Seen the Butcher’ is also a masterpiece. Alongside that cut, there are a plethora of other standout moments such as the atmospheric ‘Beauty School’ and the unrelenting ‘Rocket Skates’.

And whilst playing similarly to Cheng in the sense that he loves to bend his strings and plays with his fingers, he brought something new to the fore, and during this period the band got even more melodic as the track ‘Sextape’ affirms. However, the band could count on their friend Sergio Vega, who slotted in seamlessly. The incident tragically left him in a semi-comatose state before he passed away due to cardiac arrest in April 2013. Something of a stylistic successor to 2003’s self-titled album, there is no real down point, which surprised everyone given the absence of long-term bassist Chi Cheng following what would prove to be his fatal car crash in 2008. Since it was released in 2010, Diamond Eyes has been a fan favourite. Carpenter delivers some classic thrash metal bar chords during the verse, as well as one of his most pounding riffs, before everything ties itself together in the chorus, with Chino Moreno’s vocal delivery simply astounding. Single ‘Doomed User’ is the best example of this. They dovetail to create a sound like no other. Fusing the djent influence of Meshuggah with more spacey influences such as Cocteau Twins, it’s an interesting listen as you hear both sides of Deftones’ music – the punishing metal and the ethereal beauty – in total symbiosis.

Deftones albums