Chino Moreno Admits DEFTONES Have Worked To Avoid Being Tied To The Nü-Metal Resurgence

Deftones frontman/guitarist Chino Moreno was recently introduced to the term “baddiecore” during a conversation with Metal Hammer. The term, first coined by Craig Reynolds of Stray From The Path, has been used to describe the wave of metalcore-driven bands weaving romantic or sensual themes into their music, including acts like Sleep Token and Bad Omens.

Much like Faith No More’s indirect influence on nü-metal, Deftones have been cited as an inspiration for baddiecore—even if unintentionally. When asked about the label, Moreno admitted, “I have not, but there’s another genre we have to escape at some point, right?” He then reflected on how themes of love and desire have naturally woven their way into his lyrics, connecting that influence to artists he grew up on:

“It’s part of growing up, those feelings, and it’s not something that just dissipates as you get older. Hopefully everybody still has desires as they grow old, you know what I mean? And I think connect with it. I grew up loving a lot of romanticised music. Obviously Depeche Mode, I’ve always claimed my love for them, and that was something that was always present in the songs, and I’ve always connected with. So I think, maybe in a roundabout way, some of that has seeped into our music.”

The interview also touched on the band’s deliberate effort to avoid being pigeonholed as nü-metal—both during the genre’s original rise in the late ’90s and again during its recent revival. While many of their peers have leaned into the resurgence, Deftones have remained wary of getting grouped in.

Back in 2000, the band made a decisive break from the scene with White Pony, moving away from touring exclusively with nü-metal acts. That choice created friction with peers like Korn, but it also established Deftones as a band determined to carve out their own identity. Reflecting on that era, Moreno said in 2017:

“Our first instinct was just to kind of push it away ’cause you know to me when they called it nü metal for one, I was like well if it’s nü, you’re putting the word new in it, it’s gonna be old in a couple years.”

Now, with a new generation of fans embracing the genre, Moreno admits the struggle has resurfaced:

“It’s so funny, because we tried hard not to be lumped in with nü-metal when nü-metal was big, and then we kind of had to do it again with the nü-metal resurgence – like, hoping that we weren’t going to get lumped in once again. I think we do at times, but we didn’t want to be dated back then, and the musical choices we made were not going to pigeonhole us into that space and time.”

Deftones released their tenth studio album private music this past Friday, August 22nd.

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