The Deftones are hard at work on their first album in three years and if lead singer Chino Moreno has his way, the album will cut a new path for the veteran band.

"If something sounded a little straight, we took a left turn and made things a little screwy," Moreno told Rolling Stone. "I think it's a little more of a heady record."

The band's last album, 2012's Koi No Yokan, made a good showing both critically and in sales, debuting just shy of the Billboard Top 10, but Moreno feels the band has moved forward in the recording of this new LP. "It definitely feels like we've taken a step from our last record. But it's definitely a Deftones record, and it has all the elements that make us who we are. We're not going out there to change anything, other than just thinking outside the box," he explained.

The band hopes to wrap up recording this spring and is looking toward a fall release for the untitled album. "I feel like we've gone into the songs and really dissected them. We just tried something completely opposite, not to sabotage it, but to challenge ourselves and try new things that we haven't done in the past," Moreno said.

also remarked on the band's writing process: "We had all of us in a room together with one person expressing an idea and another person jumping on it. The songs are really built as a collective. We have five guys who have almost completely different takes on music, so when it works, it works great."

Although Moreno has his hands in various other projects including Team Sleep and the more electronic-based Crosses, Deftones are definitely on the front burner for now. "Recently, my head's been completely engulfed in the Deftones record, as it should be," he said. "It doesn't make sense right now for me to try and do three projects at one time, but when I am working on those, I have fun doing it."

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