Deftones: after 20 years, the legendary "lost album" ‘Eros’ surfaces

After nearly twenty years of waiting, “Eros,” the legendary “lost album” by the Deftones, has suddenly resurfaced online. On June 22, on a forum dedicated to Chino Moreno's band, eleven tracks attributed to the sessions for the unfinished record, recorded between 2007 and 2008, appeared. The leak immediately sparked debate among fans: some see these recordings as a precious testimony to the band's history, while others believe listening to them means violating the band's wishes.

“Eros” was meant to be the Deftones' sixth studio album. Officially announced in January 2008, the project took shape a few months later with producer Terry Date, who had already worked on the California band's first four records. The recording sessions were abruptly interrupted in November of that year, however, when bassist Chi Cheng was severely injured in a car accident in Santa Clara, California, and fell into a coma. Following that tragedy, in July 2009 the band decided to shelve the record indefinitely and focus on new material with bassist Sergio Vega: that path would lead to “Diamond Eyes,” released in 2010.
In 2014, to mark the first anniversary of Cheng's death on April 13, 2013, Chino Moreno uploaded "Smile," one of the tracks from the "Eros" sessions, to YouTube. The track, however, was removed shortly after by Maverick, the band's label.

According to reports emerging in the last few hours, in addition to the eleven tracks attributed to "Eros," some demos made during the recording of "Ohms," the album released in 2020, have also been circulating online.
Over the years Chino Moreno has repeatedly explained why he thinks an official release of "Eros" is unlikely. Interviewed by the Guardian in 2025, the singer stated: "We always get asked about 'Eros.' It'll most likely never see the light of day. It would mean going back to that period and bringing unfinished things back to life, and somehow finishing them off. 'Dallas' is the only song that was close to being finished." Already in 2016, speaking to the Independent, he had voiced reservations about the artistic merit of the material as well: "Musically it was 75-80% complete, and lyrically it was about halfway there, but honestly I wasn't too happy with the material we had. Some of the music was a bit lacking. I had faith that it would all eventually fall into place and become something great, but we never got there."
The leaked tracks bear the working titles "Destiny," "Brenda," "Melanie," "Smile," "Margot," "Candy," "Sable," "Electra," "Tempest," "Diamond" and "Briana." At the moment, Deftones have not released any official comment on the material's leak. The band's most recent album remains "Private Music," released in 2025.

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