What will Deftones play at South Side Ballroom? Album buzz offers a few hints

They've been around since 1988 and even won a Grammy Award in 2001, but when the Deftones arrive at Dallas' South Side Ballroom on March 20, fans won't know what to expect.

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That's because one quality of the Sacramento band has remained consistent for nearly three decades: the ability to evolve. They've been called nu metal and post-metal, alt and experimental rock, but the chameleon quintet still characteristically defies better description on the eve of their eighth studio album's debut.

Upon the release of the band's platinum first record Adrenaline in 1995, early tracks arrived akin to hip-hop influenced Faith No More, and rap-rock was taking nescient strides on mainstream airways. The Deftones' lead singer Chino Moreno pioneered a type of vocal arrangement that blended melody with whispered, spoken and screamed lyrics that would set the stage for up-and-coming bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit and, perhaps most directly, Linkin Park.

But, such a legacy seems incomplete when trying to describe the sheer sonic breadth of the Deftones' catalogue. Tromping guitar riffs bite and chew, chopping drum work sets breakneck paces and Moreno's distinct intonations roll like the terrifying loops of the now departed Six Flags Flashback. Perhaps the phrase "the Radiohead of metal" covers it most succinctly, though it's unclear who first pinpointed the seemingly oxymoronic label.

If there is truth to that phrase, it seems the band is headed even further in that direction. That is if "Prayers/Triangles," the first single from Gore indicates what else lies in store upon the new album's debut on April 8.

In a February interview with Kerrang! magazine, Moreno discussed the album's departure from 2010's Diamond Eyes and 2012's Koi No Yoka — the band's first efforts following the car wreck that left bassist Chi Cheng in a semi-coma in 2008. Cheng, who never fully recovered, passed away in 2013, and Moreno describes those albums as "brother-sister records" recorded with "optimism" in a time of tragedy.

Gore is less hopeful, he told the magazine, but more excited, "an expansion of what we were comfortable with." He describes its overall tone, including artwork choices, as "purple."

"I don't know why, but I think it sits somewhere between pink, red and purple," he said. "Sometimes when I hear music I see color, and when it came time to work on the artwork for this batch of songs, I knew exactly what I wanted."

As for "Prayers/Triangles," the album's first track is characteristically dynamic, but perhaps more symphonic, with a forceful, explosive crescendo and Moreno's trademark vocals building from gently melodic to screaming breakdown.

That initial taste may however belie the whole. The band reportedly performed "Doomed User" for the first time on March 5 at the Musink festival in California and, based on the imperfect audio of fan videos immediately posted online, that song promises angrier and darker forces to come behind Gore's melodic opener. With the Dallas show taking place before the album's debut, local fans may expect to be among the first to hear additional surprises.

One thing the crowd at South Side Ballroom can almost certainly expect: an energetic performance as enthusiastic as the band's earliest days, precisely the type of emphatic showmanship that built its equally passionate fan base. With new songs and new sonic playgrounds ahead, ticketholders can look forward to a bloody good time.

Follow Brentney Hamilton on Twitter at @brentneyh