“There is some really bad-ass stuff on that album”: This legendary alt-metal band are sitting on an album recorded at the height of their success – but it may never come out

Deftones posing for a photograph in 2007.

Deftones’ 2006 album Saturday Night Wrist was made in tumultuous circumstances. The band split from longtime producer Terry Date early in the sessions, and singer Chino Moreno clashed with his replacement, veteran Alice Cooper/Kiss studio guru Bob Ezrin – a situation not helped by the frontman’s battle with substance abuse.

By contrast, the atmosphere had completely shifted when Deftones convened in 2007 to write what would be their sixth album. In 2008, they revealed that the title of the record they were working on would be Eros, and that it would be released early the following year. They even premiered a new track, Melanie, during live shows in September 2008.