If the single “Prayers / Triangles” is any indication of what we can expect from DeftonesGore, then we’re in for a tremendous new album. Despite this, it turns out guitarist Stephen Carpenter “didn’t want to play on the record to begin with” and it took him a while to get into Deftones’ new material.

Deftones rolled out “Prayers / Triangles” earlier this month to fan acclaim. We were also bestowed with a flock of flamingoes for the Gore album cover. Deftones had been sharing new music for very limited amounts of time before taking the pieces offline, so fans are riled up in excitement.

During a new interview with Ultimate Guitar, Carpenter shared his lack of excitement for playing on Gore at first. “I think my proudest thing about my guitar playing on this record is just playing on the record, because I didn't want to play on the record to begin with,” Carpenter said. “It wasn't until way later once I actually got into it. I look at all the songs on the record and they were all a challenge for me to get into.”

He added, “When we were coming up with ideas and writing the songs, the stuff that was being written, you know, the other guys' ideas, I wasn't too interested in it. It wasn't the style or the sound I was hoping we would take. It wasn't what I was expecting or wanting.”

Carpenter shared that his current musical love is metal rather than Deftones’ brand of etherial rock. “My band is going one direction and I am going another one currently,” Carpenter reveals. "I just really like metal and I love all the metal that's being played now. I wish everybody would stop saying 'djent' though. That's just dumb. It's just metal." Despite this, Carpenter claims he’d never leave Deftones, but the band “started leaving me” during the recording of Gore.

Gore will see an April 8 release via Warner Bros. Records.

See the Ages of Chino Moreno + More Rock Stars in This Birthday Gallery

See Chino Moreno in 10 Vocalists Who Can Sing You to Sleep + Scare You to Death

More From Rock 96.7