As you will remember from my legendary chat with the Metal Gear Mondays boys a few weeks ago before Death Stranding’s release, I randomly spouted a theory I’ve long held that Chino Moreno from rock band Deftones was a big fan of Hideo Kojima.
A strange new “coincidence” may add evidence to this theory…
To support my theory I only had two pieces of flimsy evidence. The first was the inclusion of the “Konami code” as the title of this instrumental song from their fantastic album Saturday Night Wrist, released in 2006 between the releases of MGS3 and MGS4, which has John Carpenter/Metal Gear Solid style music in it during the last thirty seconds or so.
This was enough to convince me that the band had an interest in Hideo Kojima’s work. From there I started paying attention for clues.
Deftones has history with films. They were featured on the Escape from L.A. soundtrack with their song Can’t Even Breathe, so they definitely have a John Carpenter connection. Deftones also got their big start being featured in movie The Crow where they played music during that film’s “Dia De Los Muertos” festival. They ended up naming their own band’s festival “Dia De Los Deftones”, based on that, and have continued with that name since then.
The second piece of evidence, in my mind, came in the form of this collaboration between him and Anthony Green on the song Right Outside. Although there are no hints in the title, the picture is of a woman outside in a forest, and the core musical loop of the song is so incredibly similar to the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater caution phase that I refuse to think it’s a coincidence. Listen to the first 30 seconds of the song and compare the guitar into the beat kicking in, and compare it to the 3:42 mark in the soundtrack beneath it.
Deftones x Chvrches
And now we have this…
Look at the subtitles there. “Strength through unity” and “breaking down barriers” are on their mind, and their collaboration is making headlines. Yes, this could be a coincidence. But currently there’s a controversy surrounding the Dia De Los Deftones festival because Deftones has chosen Chvrches of all groups to be the 2nd billing, ahead of much more famous bands whose defenders are openly complaining…
Check out the tweet from the Hatebreed frontman:
Below is the lead singer of Chvrches responding to the angry comments with her own reminder that Deftones personally curated the lineup, and promoting the message of “bridging gaps”…
The Hatebreed singer eventually gave credit to the booking agent of Chvrches, but I wonder if that’s really what was responsible…
Is it possible that Chino Moreno, despite not being involved with Hideo Kojima or Death Stranding, was such a big fan of Kojima that he listened to the soundtrack for the game and fell in love with Chvrches from there? Did he play the game and pay attention to the morals about connecting people and bridging gaps and decide to take a big risk by putting a “pop band” above veteran metal musicians with long and recognized careers? It’s a small world, folks. The more you learn, the more you find that out.
Anyone who follows Chino Moreno will know that he’s not limited to the metal genre himself, as his spinoff groups Palms and Crosses are extremely mellow and melodic.
Indirectly, perhaps, Hideo Kojima’s role as the kingmaker is growing.
Chvrches will literally be singing a song called “Death Stranding” at a festival held by Deftones because the group was willing to bridge gaps of genre and defy expectations…