Whether he’s using a sensually ethereal moan, a feral screech or even the occasional old-school hip-hop rhyme, Chino Moreno is without question one of heavy music’s premier vocalists. We’ve learned that across more than 30 years and nine staggering full-lengths of work as the frontman for alt-metal institution Deftones. And yet, that’s really just part of his story.
While Moreno’s cultural footprint obviously owes much to his time with Deftones — a group that continue to command arenas and massive festival audiences — the singer has also lent the sound of his distinctive, lucid-dream expressiveness to other projects. Sometimes that’s meant steering himself into a series of side bands, while other times the vocalist has lent a supportive scream to a metal colleague’s record.
But what is the most memorable extracurricular performance ever delivered by Deftones’s enigmatic frontman? We asked the fans this very question, and they voted the top-five songs accordingly.
Sevendust – “Bender”
As a lot of Revolver readers would attest, it is still so nice to hear how Lajon Witherspoon and Chino Moreno’s respectively unique vocal approaches bleed into each other throughout “Bender,” the closing cut of Sevendust’s sophomore LP, Home.
While Moreno’s familiar, extra-drawn-out voweling drives the track early on, eventually his magnetic hypnotism starts dovetailing around the oaky, full-bodied presence of full-time ‘Dust vocalist Witherspoon.
There’s a close-knit, intuitive emotiveness to the way they entwine in the anthemic chorus, which probably had to do with how the pair apparently sang this one face-to-face in the studio — as you can see in the behind-the-scenes footage up above.
Lamb of God – “Embers”
While we’ll just have to wonder what it would’ve been like to hear Moreno savagely screaming above a sick-and-speedy, Virginia-bred thrash beat, his guest spot on Lamb of God’s fifth VII: Sturm und Drang single is still a remarkable moment in his non-Deftones catalog.
Though Randy Blythe takes the lead above the more metallically-attacked sections, Moreno colors the slow-groove bridge with a series of emotional cries.
Thematically, it’s one of LOG’s heaviest songs — concerning the death of guitarist Mark Morton’s firstborn daughter Madalyn — and it finds both vocalists singing of feeling dragged down by grief. Even so, Moreno’s appearance helps elevate the track into a thing of beauty.
Team Sleep – “Blvd. Nights”
“Blvd. Nights” booms through the speakers with heart-heavy familiarity and sits as the most Deftones-like song within this list. That’s no slight, though, as the alt-gaze cut off Team Sleep’s self-titled debut album only serves to solidify Moreno’s strengths.
Above an aching, totally blown-out, two-chord arrangement — here supported by the uniquely glitched-and-twitched snare work of Zach Hill (Death Grips, Hella) — Moreno hits melodic heights with a heady round of his signature, deep-and-soulful moan.
It’s a staggering reminder that no matter his surroundings, Moreno is primed to bring his A-game to the mic.
Korn – “Wicked” (Ice Cube cover)
Life was apparently super peachy for Moreno and Korn frontman Jonathan Davis when they hit the recording booth to deliver this irreverent, tag-team tribute to Ice Cube’s The Predator single “Wicked.” Honestly, the goofball back-and-forth the pair maintain throughout the cover gives the recording a loose and intimate feel, offering listeners a fly-on-the-wall kind of experience of hearing two friends having a ton of fun together.
The rest of Korn readapt the tense, synth-and-white-noise menace of “Wicked” into a funky, seven-string-chunking arrangement, but the highlight remains Moreno and Davis buck-buck-bucking their way through the cover with winking, weaponized swagger.
Crosses – Vivien
While a good chunk of Chino Moreno’s non-Deftones work is worship-worthy, something hits different with Crosses (†††), in particular.
Since 2011, the project he maintains with Far’s Shaun Lopez has delivered banger after banger of synth-skittered, violet-aura dark pop that’s often left fans breathless. And though Revolver readers rose out of their lake beds to bring up a bunch of Crosses favorites, “Vivien” blew the competition out of the water.
It’s not hard to hear why. The track excels in the breathy melodicism we’ve come to love from Moreno. Though Lopez’ beats crunch deep into our skulls, it may be Moreno’s massive chorus hook — which he admitted to Revolver was a “little wink” to Britney Spears’ pop juggernaut “Hit Me Baby (One More Time)” — that’s left the biggest imprint over the years.