Deftones have had an influence on alternative music of all shades, their blend of shoegaze, metal, and hip-hop making its mark on the airwaves across nearly three decades. “Change (In the House of Flies)” features on the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, bridging the razor-thin gap between mall goths and all of the other goths for years to come. Darkness Calling, with their M.O. of releasing compilations filled to the brim with dark alternative music, sought to capture the spirit of Deftones, as well as frontman Chino Moreno’s side project Crosses, with 976-EVIL, a nine-track digital offering with widely varying takes on songs from the California alt-metal kings’ extensive catalog.
For example, Ruin the Mind does “Back to School” (mostly) justice, keeping things close to the original article but with a slightly darker, meaner edge. Bleached Heat gives “Knife Prty” a post-punk makeover with chorus-laden guitars, shimmering like a sparkle baked into black eyeshadow. For fans of heavier music, Ex-Hyena, along with Brian Masiello of Gideon Gray, ping-pong between post-punk and industrial metal for their take on “Bloody Cape.”
The full track listing for 976-EVIL is as follows:
- “Elite” by Vox in the Dark
- “Knife Prty” by Bleached Heat
- “Be Quiet and Drive” by Vexagon
- “Bloody Cape” by Ex-Hyena ft Brian Masiello
- “Back to School” by Ruin the Mind
- “Xerces” by The XRay5
- “Digital Bath” by Bias Selector
- “Rx Queen” by Remains to be Seen
- “This is a Trick” by Fading Indigo
Stream/purchase the compilation via Bandcamp below:
