So remember back in March, when Brian “Head” Welch speculated that the Deftones don’t wanna tour with Korn ever again? Well, as it turns out, he wasn’t just being paranoid.

In a new interview with the recently resuscitated Metal Hammer, Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno validates Head’s theory, stating:

“We did make a very conscious choice of who we were going to play shows with. It was hard to be this young band and having to turn down tours. I can’t remember how many times I turned down Korn! And they got pissed at us. Jonathan [Davis] would say, ‘Why do you hate us?’ and I didn’t know what to say. “I’d tell him, ‘Dude, I don’t hate you. I love you guys, you’re my friends. But I don’t want to tour with you. I don’t want to be on the Family Values with you and Limp Bizkit.’ The name of the genre was nü metal, so anything that is new is one day going to be old. And I didn’t to be old with it.”

The bad news is, the Deftones in no way, shape, or form escaped being labeled as ‘nu-metal.’ The good news is, even the most hard-boiled of Bizkit bashers cite the Deftones as the rare example of ‘good nu-metal.’ How much of that has to do with their decision to not tour with Korn, I dunno. I’m sure their fans would like to think the quality of their work has something to do with it, too.

In any case, I think Moreno’s statement is a very kind way of publicly admitting that the Deftones do not want to tour with Korn. Still, if you’re Korn, it’s gotta sting a little, right? Remember, this isn’t the first time Moreno has dissed Korn in an interview. From a 2003 chat with Revolver:

“Old Korn records had so much intensity. As they go on, it’s the same thing — bad childhoods and mean moms. It gets old after awhile. How old is Jonathan? Thirty years old? [Davis was actually thirty-two at the time. -Ed.] How long has it been since he lived with his parents? Try to go somewhere else. If you’re genuine and write about whatever is drawing the emotion now, you can’t be fucked with.”

Oh well. At least there won’t be any awkward encounters on tour.

[via The PRP]