Deftones have always defined boundless creativity in heavy music. Across nine studio albums, they’ve carved out an unmistakable identity, ferocious yet dreamlike, while leaving room for reinvention at every turn. From the raw groove of their 1995 debut Adrenaline to the genre-redefining White Pony in 2000, the surging intensity of Diamond Eyes in 2010, and the brooding textures of Ohms in 2020 that earned them multiple Grammy nominations, the Sacramento veterans continue to evolve without losing their core.

With their tenth album private music, Deftones deliver one of the most focused and forward-looking chapters of their career. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who was behind the boards for Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan, the record strips away excess in favor of sharp precision, a lean and masterfully paced 11-song set that feels both immediate and expansive. The creative nucleus of Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, and Frank Delgado is joined by touring bassist Fred Sablan, whose contributions lend fresh weight to the mix.

Lyrically and thematically, private music finds Moreno exploring the push and pull of light and shadow. Songs like “My Mind Is a Mountain” and “Milk of the Madonna” meditate on the peril and beauty of nature, the pursuit of clarity, and the idea of transcending physical limits. There’s a psychedelic sweep across the soundscape, yet the band’s trademark heft is never far away, with riffs that crush, drums that quake, and Delgado’s atmospherics deepening the tension between serenity and menace.

Lead single “My Mind Is a Mountain” reintroduced the band this summer with jagged riffs and swirling ambience, praised by Pitchfork for its ability to feel massive and intimate at once. Follow-up single “Milk of the Madonna” pushed further into shoegaze territory, topping iTunes charts and lauded by critics for its shimmering layers and emotional lift. Stereogum described the album as a cohesive whole where no single track has to carry the weight, because the entire set flows with rare purpose. Early reviews call it one of the band’s strongest late-career releases, a record that feels like another high-water mark in a catalog already filled with them.

At once a psychedelic voyage and a skull-rattling wallop, private music feels like Deftones sharpening every tool they’ve ever used while reaching for something entirely new. It doesn’t simply revisit past triumphs but reframes them, creating a sound that is both steeped in their legacy and brimming with possibility. Decades into their run, Deftones remain at the vanguard of heavy, artful music, and private music proves that evolution and reinvention aren’t just part of their story, they are the story.