Release Date June 12th, 2026
Format CD/Vinyl
Genre Death Metal
Origin Japan
Defiled formed in Tokyo in 1992 and entered the Japanese underground during death metal’s early 1990s rise. The 1994 EP "Defeat Of Sanity" established their name before "Erupted Wrath" arrived in 1999, followed by "Ugliness Revealed" and "Divination". Those first three albums were mixed by Jim Morris at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, placing the band beside a major production name from the era without turning their music into an American copy. International appearances included Milwaukee Metal Festival and dates with Morbid Angel, Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse and Incantation.
Defiled joined Season Of Mist in 2003 and continued through several lineup changes before settling on Yusuke Sumita on guitar, Shinichiro Hamada on vocals and guitar, Takachika Nakajima on bass and Keisuke Hamada on drums. This formation has remained together since "Infinite Regress", followed by "The Highest Level" and "Horror Beyond Horror". "Altered State" is their ninth full length and the latest chapter in a career shaped outside the usual European and American schools of death metal.
"Altered State" contains fourteen songs, with little time spent on empty space. Death metal, thrash riffing and progressive rhythmic turns are fused into compact songs that change direction without warning. Jagged chord shapes, rapid picking, sudden meter changes and crooked grooves arrive in quick succession. The bass stays present beneath the constant movement, while the vocals sit deep in the mix as another attack inside the arrangement. Tidy verse and chorus patterns are rejected, giving the album an unsettled character. Several transitions arrive too quickly, leaving a few ideas underdeveloped before the next turn appears.
Other sections lock into a severe pulse long enough for the riffs to sink in. "Portal", "Obsession" and "Altered State" expose different angles of the same method, from traditional riffing to dissonant turns and warped rhythmic design. All music and lyrics are credited to Yusuke Sumita. The words draw from George Orwell’s "1984", focusing on surveillance, obedience, psychological collapse and public madness without turning into a lecture.
The album was recorded at Studio Zot in Tokyo, with Sumita producing and Shinichiro Hamada and Keisuke Hamada handling engineering. Kenji Kikuchi mixed and mastered it at Studio Nest in Chiba. His mix is dry and compact, with a raw guitar tone, a cracking snare and enough bass presence to make the rhythmic changes readable. Wes Benscoter’s cover art extends the diseased vision. "Altered State" is restless, disciplined death metal, packed with abrupt motion and ideas that need several plays to fully register.
|8.0
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