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Deftones Brave The Elements To Shoot 'Minerva' Video

Clip for first single off their new self-titled LP should surface next week.

When the Deftones shot the video for "Minerva," the first single off the band's self-titled new album, it took more than mere guts to complete it. It took true grit, literally.

"It was a little bit of a pain in the ass," turntablist Frank Delgado said. "It was in the middle of the desert and there was a sandstorm and it was freezing, but other than the sand in your ass, it was fun."

Delgado and his bandmates -- drummer Abe Cunningham, guitarist Stephen Carpenter, bassist Chi Cheng and singer Chino Moreno -- braved the swirling grains and chilly temperatures of California's Imperial Sand Dunes, about 15 miles from the Mexican border, earlier this month to film the video for "Minerva" with director Paul Fedor (Jimmy Eat World, P.O.D.). The completed clip is expected to surface next week, according to a Maverick Records spokesperson.

Although it was shot all in one day, Delgado said the production was pretty taxing. Besides dealing with the elements, the shoot required overnight filming, from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m., in order to capture a sunrise and sunset to bookend the mostly performance-based clip. The band is shown rocking while gusting winds and sand pelt them head-on.

"Minerva," which began appearing on radio this week, is the most melodic song on the 11-track Deftones, due May 20 (see [article id="1470439"]"Deftones Almost Done With Deftones -- For Real This Time"[/article]). Ringing guitars erect a wall of sound so volleys of bass and drums can slam against it. Moreno's vocal melody, meanwhile, sets the path for the maelstrom to follow.

Even though Deftones were never really a singles band, the remainder of the tunes are sprawling evocations of aggression -- even for them. So their choice of going eponymous with their fourth album -- a first-album practice for most bands -- was hardly the result of a creative block.

"We had titles we were knocking around and they just never seemed to work out," Delgado explained. "We spent a lot of time on this record. We changed a lot of different things in our camp, as far as business and management and things like that, so it was pretty much a new leaf for us."

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