Deftones-Around The Fur

Around the Fur has been described as alternative metal, nu metal, and post-hardcore. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter has since reflected, "We didn't really pay much attention to that. I remember when these subgenre names didn't exist. It was just metal. So I don't think we made a decision to step away [from nu metal] – we've never paid attention to what anyone else was doing. We just did what we thought was right, and tried to make a killer album." The producer Terry Date stated that the band wanted to become "more sophisticated" with Around the Fur.

Lyrically, much of the album addresses topics such as juvenile perception, existential angst, sex, romance, violence, the death of loved ones, and break-ups.

Recording took place between April 1997 and June 1997 at Studio Litho in Seattle, which was owned by Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam. At that time, Pearl Jam were working on their fifth studio album Yield, and had to use a different studio.

The band had gathered inspiration off of their own internal issues and personal incidents, as the four of them rented an apartment in Southern Seattle whilst they were writing and recording the album. Singer Chino Moreno and Carpenter recall the band often drank and partied frequently, even recalling random moments of writing where the bassist Chi Cheng and Carpenter would smoke marijuana frequently together and write riffs together; the two later included their voicemail of them smoking out of a bong as a hidden track between "MX" and "Damone".

Around The Fur was the second album to feature Frank Delgado under additional personnel; he eventually joined the band officially in 1999. 

The song "Headup" featured additional vocals by Max Cavalera of Soulfly.

The album cover was shot by the photographer Rick Kosick during a late-night party in Seattle where the band was recording. Upon seeing the candid photo of a woman, the band decided that they wanted to use it as the album cover. Kosick was unsure who the woman was, so the band had to find and track her down to obtain permission to use the photo, which she eventually granted. The woman appearing on the cover is Lisa M. Hughes, a friend of Stephen Carpenter. Hughes spoke publicly about the cover for the first time during the album's 20th anniversary in 2017. Moreno has since expressed his dislike of the cover, calling it "horrible".