When nu-metal was just starting out, these guys were best friends.... And then they weren't. Because of similarities in their sound at the time, Korn, who were around a few minutes before Deftones, started talking s--t in interviews about how the 'Tones were copping their grooves. And the Def ones responded by saying they developed their sound independent of Korn, who were stabbing their pals in the back for a few column inches of press. For a while, it seemed like the two bands wanted nothing to do with each other. Then, Korn launched Family Values and asked Deftones to smoke the peace pipe with them and attend the tour. But the San Diego group had already scored their own stash and politely declined the invitation, declaring that they didn't want to be lumped into a music scene that was sure to be short-lived.
Deftones were right about one thing. The nu-metal thing definitely ran its course, and Korn's former compadres, including Limp Bizkit, Orgy and Videodrone, are now about as warmly received by the metal community as Tesla and White Lion. However, through all the shiftshaping and swashbuckling, both Korn and Deftones have transcended the limitations of the new metal genre and emerged as their own distinct entities. For both bands, strong songwriting and stylistic variation was essential to escape the pack.
Today, Deftones are as strong as they've been in years. Their last album, 2006's Saturday Night Wrist, was dense and dynamic, experimental, but never too clogged with ideas to belie the well crafted structures and intense emotional resonance. Currently, the band are wrapping up their next album, Eros and, allegedly, the thing will drop this fall.
We're not sure the Korn camp is feeling as healthy these days. In 2004 or so, guitarist Brian "Head" Welch decided to leave the band to devote his life to the lord. In 2007, drummer David Silveria went on hiatus and hasn't returned, and recently, guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer announced that he was working on a side project supergroup called Fear and the Nervous System with ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, ex-Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman and others. However, there are also rumors floating around that Korn's original lineup will soon launch a reunion tour. We'll see what happens with that, but that's not at issue at the moment. Alls we want to know right now is who rocks harder, Korn or Deftones?