Written By Kevin McSweeney
Tokyo’s death metal doyens Defiled have been at the top of their craft for a long time now, having formed in 1992 and first releasing music in 1994.
As such, they deserve to be spoken of with the same reverence we reserve for the American bands (and Canadian, in the case of their labelmates Cryptopsy) who emerged in the same era.
It is with profound remorse, therefore, that I am about to present a review of their ninth full-length album Altered State – available from June 12th via Season of Mist – that is littered with comparisons to their Western counterparts.
This is because I have not previously given them the attention they deserve. Let’s try to put that right now.
It’s an astonishingly vital sounding album for a band who have been making music since the early 1990s.
They could be forgiven at this stage in their careers for going through recording sessions in perfunctory fashion, but it still sounds fresh, raw and full of vigour, like they have something left to prove.
Album Review: Altered State by Defiled Breakdown
This is evident from the opening notes of the album. Jumping straight into a blast beat is always a great idea, and that’s exactly how they commence opening track Dazed in Blindness.
They play with such intensity and intricacy, it seems as if it could unravel in an instant, and would do so in less capable hands.
We have Cannibal Corpse trills, ursine vocals and a tendency to jump between tempos, which might irk some but it enthrals me.
The military marching snare beat is clearly a favourite, and it makes a couple of appearances here, and becomes something of a leitmotif throughout the recording.
In fact, it is with that very kind of beat that they begin the title track. Altered State is just as erratic as the opening track, leaping from marches to blast beats and from mid-paced chugging to finger-shredding frenzies on the fretboard.
We have machine gun-like blasts with all instruments in lockstep, and elements where the bass is higher and more pronounced, as on Death’s The Philosopher.
The guitar solo shrieks in horror in the style of Reigning Blood. Some might accuse their songs of being collections of riffs, rather than anything with a discernible structure, but that’s an accusation that could be leveled at many death metal bands.
Obsession opens with another marching snare beat, but it is followed by a mid-paced groove-laden riff that actually reminds me of the chorus of Morbid Angel’s Angel of Disease, except they switch 4/4 for jarring time signatures, alternating from 7/4 to 9/4 between verse and chorus.
(I think! I am happy to be corrected by someone who knows what they’re talking about.)
We return to 4/4 for a faster, chuggier section that sounds not unlike Bolt Thrower. The guitar solo is brief and atmospheric, and the whole thing verges on the progressive end of death metal, not unlike Cynic.
A very different beat opens Portal. In fact, it sounds almost like the intro to Smells Like Teen Spirit for a second. Thankfully, it doesn’t last long, and is replaced by a moderately fast Overkill/Bomber-style beat with rolling eighth notes on the kick drums.
It’s not long before the blast beat re-establishes itself, however, and is accompanied by a classic Obituary chord structure. There’s also a riff in there that reminds me of Megadeth’s Wake Up Dead.
Overall, there’s a kind of crust punk feel to the track. As for the lyrics, the line: “The demons shall rise and fly in the darkness for evermore” is as good a description of where we are in 2026 as any I’ve heard.
We’re straight back to the blast beat on the splendidly-named Necro-Force. It’s a title that makes me think of a group of zombies forming a crimefighting unit.
We jump from the blast beat into a 6/8 time speedalong, similar to Death’s Lack of Comprehension, before heading more into groove metal territory.
They leap erratically between these riffs like a ninja on disco biscuits. It’s an exhilarating ride! I mentioned Angel of Disease by Morbid Angel earlier. There’s a riff in this song that sounds even more like it than the previous one.
It’s Sepultura that comes to mind on The Degradation. The song starts with one of those Inner Self-style chugs, followed by a barrage of drums. It then alternates between the death/thrash sound the Brazilians mastered on Beneath The Remains, and the groove metal leanings of Chaos AD.
Having said that, there’s some high bass in there that wouldn’t sound out of place on a New Order record, though the preceding fast riff and double kick combo made me feel like I was being strafed with bullets.
I love the recurring couplet: “No light, no salvation/Degradation.” At just shy of four minutes, it’s the longest track on an album full of relatively short songs.
This is immediately followed by one of the shortest songs in the form of Genocidal Stage.
This is a furious bit of invective, seemingly regarding current events upon which I dare not elaborate.
Musically, this track is a return to that frenetic, blast-beat driven death metal and a return also to that recurring marching snare beat.
We also have those Cannibal Corpse trills emerging once again. Like the event depicted, it’s furious and explosive; Unlike the event depicted (alas) it’s over fairly quickly.
I’m intrigued by the opening bars of Metamorphosis of Evil. It sounds vaguely militaristic, but also as if they are lapsing into free form jazz – albeit an aggressive and heavily distorted version thereof.
We then have a section that is reminiscent of Pantera’s Primal Concrete Sledge, then lightning fast death metal, then a 6/8 time stompalong.
They certainly keep you on your toes with all this! The guitar solo conveys a melody that verges on black metal. There’s elements of the death ‘n’ roll style pioneered by Entombed on Wolverine Blues, and it all ends quite abruptly in a flurry of ferocity.
The Ultra Death is another track that keeps us on our toes, alternating as it does between 4/4 and 6/8 time, and bombarding us with tribal tom grooves and full-blooded chug-alongs.
Lyrically, it references something horrifically dystopian, with it’s: “quest for the dark side”, and “echoes of distress screams.”
The guitar solo seems to wail in anguish, rather than shred. The brutal coda brings things to a close in a manner that evokes memories of Pantera in their pomp.
I mentioned zombies earlier, and now we have Zombified, though it is a metaphor in this instance, referring disparagingly to the followers of some political movement or other, and the manifestation of its anger in the form of protest.
I feel it should plod along like a zombie, but the opposite occurs. This is full-on blast beat-driven death metal in the style of Cryptopsy. Lasting not much longer than two minutes, this is one to rattle the brain, rather than eat it.
Lunatics continues in the ultra-fast, ultra-brutal blast beat vein, at least at first. After a brief pause, it switches to a more groove-laden Chaos AD-type affair with a jarring rhythm and elaborate tom-tom work.
There’s a switch to 6/8 time, with the snare drum now getting the lion’s share of the battering, before they revert to explosive speed. The sole occurrence of melody is in the guitar solo, which sounds surprisingly plaintive, if only for a short time.
Next up is Prophecies, and any song that starts with the words: “obey the master” is inevitably going to invite certain comparisons. It’s not at all like Master of Puppets, however.
It’s a good deal shorter for one thing. It opens with a rolling kick drum and tom groove that brings Pantera’s Primal Concrete Sledge to mind, followed by slow but iron-clad riffing that evokes Obituary, before settling into a staccato groove that reminds me of Prong.
They’re covering quite a bit of ground in extreme metal in a short space of time. There’s a brief bit of that marching snare beat that I keep going on about, and a riff is introduced towards the end that reminds me of Orgasmatron.
The penultimate track is called Demolition. Alas, it’s not a death metal rendition of the theme music of the fabled WWE tag team of the late 1980s. Pro Wrestling is huge in Japan, so it wouldn’t have been beyond the realm of possibilities.
The track has strong Bolt Thrower vibes about it. It’s got that same sort of heads-down-see-you-at-the-end approach to it, and a similar lead guitar sound to iconic BT tracks such as Centotaph.
More than most tracks on the album, this one is a try-not-to-headbang challenge. It’s at that perfect pace for windmilling the hair in the Corpsegrinder style. (I assume so anyway. I don’t have much hair these days.) It gets a lot faster towards the end, so said windmilling might actually result in a neck like Corpsegrinder’s.
The final track is named, quite appropriately, Apocalyptic End, and they seem determined to conclude the album in Earth-shattering fashion, with near-superhuman drumming and shredding aplenty.
It’s not just the pace and intensity; the constant jarring shifts in tempo must take a toll on the body. There’s a reference in the lyrics to the calcification of the pineal gland.
I admit I had to Google it. Apparently, it’s the part of the brain that controls the body’s circadian rhythm, thus determining when we should be active and when we should sleep. I can only apologise to mine for the constant abuse to which I subject it. The album ends with the following lines:
Enhance its lies and dogma
Duplicity in domination
Bad omens loom over the world
Apocalyptic end
Well, we will keep electing these scoundrels, so we have only ourselves to blame.
In summary, this album is a huge, rapid, thundering hunk of metal that often seems to be on the verge of coming off the tracks, with devastating potential consequences, yet never does.
In that regard, it’s very much the musical equivalent of the Shinkansen. However, it stops at more stations, and offers a much more scenic route through the realms of extreme metal than we might expect.
Altered State is a fine addition to a distinguished back catalogue. We thank Defiled for it, and wish them tremendous success in altering their state to one in which they receive the level of acclaim they deserve.
Metal Lair awards Altered State by Defiled four out of five devil horns
Order Defiled – Altered State Here
Tracklist:
1. Dazed in Blindness
2. Altered State
3. Obsession
4. Portal
5. Necro-Force
6. The Degradation
7. Genocidal Stage
8. Metamorphosis of Evil
9. The Ultra Death
10. Zombified
11. Lunatics
12. Prophecies
13. Demolition
14. Apocalyptic End
Lineup
Shinichiro Hamada – Vocals, Guitar
Yusuke Sumita – Guitar
Takachika Nakajima – Bass
Keisuke Hamada – Drums
Defiled Online
About The Author
Kevin McSweeney is Metal Lair’s resident scribe of the underground, eternally rummaging through the global metal scene for riffs worth your time.
As the guiding hand behind Seven Deadly Songs every Friday, he has an uncanny knack for finding the track you didn’t know you needed, usually before finishing his pint.
Equal parts loyal, kind, and quietly razor-witted, Kevin brings deep knowledge, impeccable taste, and a steady, reliable presence to Metal Lair.
Read More From This Author:
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