Hard rock heavyweights Alice in Chains, Deftones and Mastodon are teaming up for a fall tour of North America. The BlackDiamondSkye Tour name, appropriately, is an amalgamation of each group's most recent studio album: "Black Gives Way to Blue" by Alice in Chains, the upcoming "Diamond Eyes" by Deftones, and "Crack the Skye" by Mastodon.

The hefty billing will be on the road together from September 16 at Chart One Pavilion in Chicago, IL, through October 16 at The Joint in Las Vegas, NV. More concerts will be announced in the near future.

While bassist Chi Cheng continues his long recovery from a late November car accident, his bandmates in alternative metal band Deftones are now trying to resume touring and recording in his absence.

The group returned to the concert circuit this year with an April 5 performance at Bamboozle Left in Irvine, CA. The Deftones are following that performance with more time in the studio and an August tour of several major European festivals. Full details of the Deftones' itinerary are listed below.

Chi Cheng, bassist for Sacramento-based Deftones, is in a coma following a November 3 car accident in Santa Clara, CA. The 38-year-old was admitted to the intensive care unit at a San Jose hospital, where he remains in serious but stable condition according to published reports.

Yesterday (November 4) afternoon, Deftones vocalist and guitarist Chino Moreno confirmed the reports in a note on the band's official blog. "It deeply saddens me to inform you all that our brother Chi Cheng was involved in a terrible car accident last night," Moreno wrote, adding that he was on his way to the hospital to meet with friends and family who had already arrived.