Phantom Bride

Album: Gore (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This track features a guest appearance by Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell. The band decided to extend the invitation after deciding the song needed something extra. Frontman Chico Moreno told the radio station 92.3 KOMP: "In the demo stages, I was like, 'There's this hole in there.' In Deftones songs there's not really any guitar solos, but there was a section in there where [there was room for] not necessarily a typical solo, but it had an area where it could use something like what he does."

    Cantrell sent back a demo a couple of days after the band made contact, then recorded the final version in their studio. "It's like you're hearing a Deftones song – but all of a sudden a bit of Alice In Chains seeps in," said the singer. "As a fan, I was just sitting back and a little tear came out of my eye."
  • Cantrell told Metal Hammer about how his contribution came together: "Deftones and I have known each other for years, and we're also under the same management," he said. "Chino sent over the song file and I thought it was really great, cool and moody, so I worked on it that night and threw something down."

    "He sent me a file of them jamming the song live, I sent it back with the idea I laid down, and Chino thought it was perfect," Cantrell continued. "I waited until they got back in the studio and then came in and laid it down. So, it was pretty easy, and I think it's going to be a great song."
  • Guitarist Stephen Carpenter told Ultimate-Guitar that the track is unlikely to feature in their shows. "We can't bring Jerry on tour with us and ain't none of us playing his part, so there goes that song! He killed it on the record."
  • In 2016 Deftones began a partnership with Belching Beaver Brewery in San Diego, California. The signature product of the collaboration was named after this song: the Phantom Bride IPA, with a formidable 7.1% alcohol-by-volume content.
  • Lead singer Chino Moreno, per his custom, hasn't talked about the lyric or why he chose the title, which doesn't appear in the lyric. The song is addressing someone who won't let go... of what, we don't know, but it's clearly holding him back.

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