If you’ve never given Japan’s Defiled a listen then you should, as it is unusual to get such a brutal outfit emerging from the east side of the Pacific Ocean so much so that I waxed lyrically about the bands sixth album ‘Infinite Regress’ when I reviewed it for the site. That was three years ago which surprised me as the album is still pretty fresh in my ears as this seventh release sees the band maintain the brutalising approach but to some degree clean up their sound which fans of the band will either appreciate or loathe. Personally I can’t make my mind up, I really liked parts of this album but was left a little indifferent on the odd segment. However, Defiled are a battering death metal band, of that there is no qualm as the bands sense of deathly grind is saturated in animosity despite the cleaner sound and production overall.
‘The songs are short and to the point, hinting at the deathgrind qualities as the band batters you in a similar vein to Brazil’s Krisiun, where the machine gun blasting approach is immediate when opener ‘Off-Limits’ nails you to the wall. Nothing is overstated in any of the songs, the band prefers to sonically maul you at every opportunity as the raw primitive sound makes everything sound more vicious and wildly violent. There are tons of references to Deicide throughout the album, the monstrous vocals and the way the songs park themselves in groove infested death metal is catchy despite the rawness of the approach.
Missile like riffs are hurled out, much like Krisiun, as ‘Stealth’ and the title track so amply display but embedded here also is a chaotic inhumanity; the songs feel like they are careering out of control to plunge into some sort abyss as on ‘Entrapped’. With the song durations kept within the two to three minute mark there is a colossal air of urgency threading through the album, each track feels like it is assaulting you at breakneck speed typified by ‘The Status Quo’ and ‘Demonization’ as the latter possesses pernicious savagery that etches into your head.
I did say that parts of this album left me a little nonplussed and it isn’t related to the songs being boring, more the way everything blends into one with very little distinction but those moments are infrequent and quickly shoved to one side once the next phase or track appears. ‘Madness Accelerated’ is utterly bludgeoning, as the grind like credentials rear up especially with the tin can like snare sound. In places there is a chaotic styling that pushes the songs into that urgency I suggested as I also noted that vocally the band has adopted a shouty hardcore touch but still disembowelling in tone of course.
The only superlative to add about this album is intensity, it is remorseless from start to finish, even the outro piece is saturated in tension but when you get the slightly longer ‘Red World’ with its unerring speed bolted to the slower, and dare I say it, doomier toning of ‘The Requiem’ you have an album that is unafraid to stray from its foundations but steadfastly remains ultra-brutal death metal from start to finish.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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