Deftones

With the death of Deftones original bassist Chi Cheng goes the departure of perhaps one of the more unassuming but quietly pivotal bassists of the past two decades or so.

Deftones influence didn’t always lend itself to worthy disciples - with the likes of Limp Bizkit and the nu-metal movement completely failing to grasp the subtlety and intelligence behind the great slabs of noise that made up Deftones’ 1997’s breakthrough album ‘Around The Fur,’ looking even more rudimentary as the group furthered themselves from the field with 2000’s seminal ‘White Pony’- but with Cheng in charge of the lo-end the group set about producing a run of records between Around The Fur and 2003’s Deftones that have arguably been unsurpassed by any other heavy rock group then or since.

Cheng’s bass lines were key in White Pony in particular, featuring a diversity that meant they often the bed rock whether contributing to the furiously thrashing ‘Elite’ or playing with the space and silence as much as the noise on the quiet-loud builds of ‘Digital Bath’ and ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’. Live he was again an assured if un-showy presence, the group at their ferocious peak with him on board. It was in 2008 that Cheng was involved in a serious car accident, which put him in the tragically irreversible coma, but he’s never been forgotten even as Deftones brought in another bassist. It’s perhaps a dark irony that last year’s Koi No Yokan is perhaps the best album the band have recorded since White Pony, but it’s also turned out to be a fitting tribute to a musician who set them on the path to what they are today – one of the few untouchable acts left in rock music.

Continue reading: Chi Cheng's Legacy Lives On In Deftones Of 2013

Chi Cheng, the bassist for metal group Deftones, has died. Cheng was left in a semi-conscious state that he has never been able to escape from following a car accident in 2008, yesterday (April 14) marking the date that his suffering finally ended. His family posted on Oneloveforchi.com late last night saying that Chi had been taken to the emergency room, his mother, Jeanne Marie Cheng, wrote, "He left this world with me singing songs he liked in his ear."

This morning, Deftones frontman Chino Moreno confirmed Cheng's untimely passing on his Facebook page, although the group have yet to release an official statement relating to Cheng's passing. The Grammy-winning band reluctantly began playing again after Cheng's accident with a back-up bassist, Sergio Vega, but as a founding member of the group Cheng always remained a source of influence for the band. Cheng co-founded the band along with Moreno, Stephen Carpenter and Abe Cunningham in 1988 and he performed on their first five albums (three of which went platinum, one gold) until 2006's Saturday Night Wrist. The band had been working on new material at the time of Cheng's accident, but were forced to selve the project following his accident.

Continue reading: Chi Cheng Dies: Deftones Bassist Dead Aged 42

Metallica have revealed the line-up for their second annual Orion Music + More Festival, and as you’d expect from the ageing veterans of heavy metal, it’s one that bristles with more noise and riffs than you can shake a Flying V guitar at.

Over 30 acts have been announced so far for the five stages, with Metallica being joined by the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rise Against, Deftones and Bassnectar for the two day event that takes place in Detroit on June 8^th and 9^th. “Last year’s Orion Music + More Festival was hands down the highlight of the Metallica calendar. A great time was had by all, especially the band members,” Lars Ulrich said in a press release reported by Classic Rock “The fact that it also resonated with enough of our fans and friends that it warrants another go-around in ’13 is beyond exciting. I can think of no better place than the Motor City, with its rich and diverse history of music, for the second ride on our Orion festival train. Bring it the f— on!”

With the Chilis joining Metallica as headliners, it marks a potentially busy time for their bassist Flea, who has also been involved in Thom Yorke’s Atoms For Peace project. They released their album AMOK today (February 25, 2013) and he’ll be likely joining them on some live dates as well.

Continue reading: Metallica's Orion Festival Reveals 2013 Line-Up, Including Red Hot Chili Peppers

It may still only be November but tomorrow (November 30, 2012), early bird tickets will go on sale for next year’s Reading and Leeds Festivals, with Mercury Music Prize winners Alt-J unsurprisingly featuring on the list. The festivals take place on the August bank holiday weekend and the festival organisers are following in the footsteps of Glastonbury Festival by introducing a £50 deposit scheme, to help spread out the cost of the ticket price, which could be a little too steep, especially this close to Christmas.

Other acts to be announced in the line-up are Sub Focus, Deftones and Wiley’s grime gang, Boy Better Know. The line-up will be moving away from its rock traditions, as the tastes of the festival’s audience begins to diversify. Organiser Melvin Benn told the press earlier this year “There will quite a bit more dance music, quite a bit more other bits and pieces” and also announced that there will also be three new stages introduced at the festival, too.

Tickets for the two festivals which run the same line-ups, on separate days, will go on sale at 9am tomorrow morning . The deposit scheme ensures that fans can secure their ticket for the festival, as long as they pay the balance before March 31, 2013. For a limited period (until December 31, 2012, tickets will be on sale at 2012 prices.

Robbie Williams might be sitting pretty at the top of the UK Album Charts after the weekend, but if said charts have taught us anything, it’s that time makes fools of us all, and we fully expect Mr. Williams – comparatively an elder statesman of the British pop world compared to this week’s leading contender – to fall by the wayside this coming weekend.

Who are these young bucks, Brylcreemed up and smelly freshly of Lynx ready take the crown that Robbie’s new LP told us so explicitly to watch? Why it’s One Direction of course, who’ve graduated to stardom Stateside too since the release of their first album Up All Night last year. The X Factor alumni bring out their follow-up Take Me Home this week, and you’d have to be one of Williams’ family to bet against the youngsters knocking auld Rob off his perch.

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Continue reading: Out Now - UK Album Releases, November 12, 2012 - One Direction, Rolling Stones, Christina Aguilera, Twilight Breaking Bad - Part 2